Very first first
Today marks the tenth anniversary of this particular blog. A decade of my life is now invested in a virtual space which itself has nurtured my mind, my writing, my friendships, my community and my making sense of the world. Yet, "I" have been only a subset of what "CM" is. This is the fact that prompts me to write today and mark this occasion. CM became, very early, a communal space of a very particular kind: engaged, irreverent, awkward with looking at itself, steady. Many of my closest friendships came into this space and emerged from it. CM was not ideologically driven, it was not geographically situated, it did not have a political agenda. It was a way of seeing the world. CM published, and was published by, a number of individuals who continue here: Farangi, Lapata, Patwari, Sanyasi, Dacoit, Bulleyah and then many, many readers and guest posters and commentators (nearly 11,000 comments!) and friends who came, who left, who came back.
I have used this space to rant, be informative, be lethargic, be angry, be disgusted, be snarky, be all of the above. I have, barring one occasion, never invoked my personal life, never launched personal attacks on others, never participated in group-think, never self-promoted. I used this space to write - differently, effectively, in sync with my academic turns, and not enough. The CM slow-burn has been in effect for a few years, and somehow sustained itself. Blogging seems so old-fashioned now that people can just post updates on facebook but I predict it will make a comeback. Just you wait.
On behalf of everyone who wrote for CM, I want to thank all who are reading this today, and all who have read it over the years.
CM will go on.
COMMENTS
Jonathan Dresner | April 08, 2014
Good!
Ahmer | April 08, 2014
Thanks for an awesome ten years. Have truly enjoyed reading your perspective.
Zafar Malik | April 09, 2014
Thank you for creating this space and filling it with interesting and thoughtful ideas and perspectives.
Aniruddha | April 10, 2014
Congratulations Sepoy, ten years of intelligent blogging! : )
sharanya | April 12, 2014
A heart is lifted. Thank you for CM, Manan!
Jyotsna | April 24, 2014
Congratulations. I love CM and read it often.. thanks for this great breath of fresh thinking air!
Maujkar | May 21, 2014
Mabrook.. waday bhaiJan..