(Took this picture of Umishang Double-decker Root Bridge in Nongriat, Meghalaya after an arduous trek. I recall the mesmerizing time I spent travelling in Northeast India for a couple of months - No job, no worries of money & lots of time. Circa March 2021)
Yes. Blogging is dying.
Maybe it's already dead & I am one of the few fanning the flames of the pyre even after the soul has left the body & the mourners have long departed since :/
I vividly recall the splurge of gay bloggers from India, especially in the late 00s/early 10s. There were quite a few gay men, albeit from metros - Delhi, Bombay etc who used to blog regularly. Perhaps starting a blog of my own was also inspired from them - An anonymous corner of the bottomless bit of the internet that I own where no one can find you. Alas, today's world is much different - everyone & their guncles are on Twitter, attention spans have dwindled & not many have the patience to either read and/or write long form posts.
Anyway, today I intend to make a list of all the blogs that personally contributed to my existence is some shape or form. Maybe, if & when someday you guys stumble upon this post, please consider this as a personal thank you note :)
1) Jalaj Vaivaswat Blogspot - Jalaj used to write on Rediffblogs earlier (http://vaivaswat.rediffblogs.com/) which is not accessible anymore. I clearly remember the winters of 2009. I was in 3rd year of my Med school, battling the internal conundrums of accepting my sexuality. During the winter break I was visiting my father in Punjab. One night, sitting in the cozy army cantonment of Patiala, I came across his blog. First on the Rediffblogs & then Blogspot. You know the feeling when you see a random scene from a tv show that aired long ago & immediately fell in love? And then you realize 10 seasons are already over. First you are dismayed why didn't you get to know about it earlier but then you realize OMG I have 10 WHOLE SEASONS to binge watch!!
That's exactly what happened. I started from the very start & scoured through every post written since 2004. The relatability factor was astonishing - perhaps the first time in 21 years of existence, I felt seen & heard. I vicariously lived through his posts - feely giddy at his highs & deeply sharing his sorrows during the lows. May it be his Nepal stories, Delhi gay scene explorations or job challenges - I loved every bit of it :)
When I finally completed all the backlog pulling all-nighters :D, I wrote a detailed comment about how I felt. At that time I hadn't started a blog so I used some stupid alias - Oven/Staggering Maverick (God knows why 😅😅). 13 years have passed and so much has changed since but when I go back I read that twinkle-eyed, naive comment I wrote, I can't thank him enough for his invaluable presence.
Here's to you Jalaj 💓!
P.S. Lut gaye is still one of my favorite songs & every time I hear it, I thank you :)
2) Desi Underground Gay - I have been following him since more than a decade now and I am a fan of his writing. His unique style of uninhibited expression laced with poetry & ghazals that explore the themes of masculinity, pain, lust & salacious love affairs - with boys & cities, and of course sex! A part of me wishes I could write like him in some ways (but then I don't feel strongly motivated internally to analyze & write about sex in such detail 😅).
I find it weirdly fascinating that he is one of the strangers I have seen grow over the last many years, through his writings, from the sidelines. Never met per se but we used to write comments on each other's posts occasionally. He came out publicly in one of his blogs a while ago & I got a chance to see his Instagram.
I couldn't be more proud of you boy! You are a champ - in true sense :)
3) Talking Closets - I discovered him quite late. In 2020 when we were all cooped inside our homes owing to the pandemic, I devoured his many posts dating from 2005. Though his last post was in 2009 & I was 11 years too late, I absolutely loved his stories of Bombay & the bois. This guy is effortlessly hilarious & what a flair for story-telling! I dropped in a comment on his last post letting him know how he made my pandemic much easier :D
I don't know where or how you are my Bombay Bong Boy, but I sincerely hope you are keeping well :)
4) Yadhu Krishna - Our Mallu gay boy. He has been missing for sometime too. Though he posts once a year religiously (kudos to his consistency :p)
Come back you guys! Though we are much older (and none the wiser!), scattered around the world, there is a part of me that hopes I'll bump into you sometime, somewhere & share stories :)
Love,
ASK
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