WYSIWYG Dreamz: Jayanth.Krupanidhi@Sun.COM

It does feel really satisfying when you actually DO something that you had always wanted to do for a long time, but had conveniently delayed to get started on it. Not that you wanted to deliberate the delay, but it's just that it wasn't destined to happen then. As the popular adage goes, "The best happens to those who wait", my first blog is destined to be written now! It's a special one for me, coz it's packed with a few thoughts that I had nurtured for quite some time in the deepest neuron chambers of my brain.

And now, having started to blog, I'm faced with probably the same question that almost every blogger on earth would have faced initially, and every aspiring blogger would be facing - What to blog about? I'm sure there are still thousands of people out there who have so far been suppressing their blogging instincts just due to lack of a title compelling enough to make them get started on this interesting and addictive activity that has evolved to become a "hobby" that entices both the tech-savvy and the non-techies alike. Finally, I've come to the conclusion that there could not be a better topic for a first-time blogger than the topic of blogging itself.

Ever wondered why we aren't able to do everything that we'd always wanted to do in life? It would be unfair to blame incompetence to do something as the reason for this. For it may be true in quite a few cases, it's just the problem of "getting started" for many. I remember having read long before about habits and what it takes for someone to convert a one-time activity into a habit: doing it 21 consecutive times. People who have tried doing this would concur with me that it's not as simple as it sounds. What it means is that if you've started to script (or scribble) blogs, and you've already done that for a good 21 times, chances are that you'd be a blogger forever. And I'm quite strong 'n' serious on my conviction of not being just a one-time blogger. Coz I know that all it takes to keep me going on this would be to keep myself loaded with barrels of motivation, keep doing things that make me happy, look out for things that inspire me, and most importantly, overcome the tendency to commit the most common sin: procrastination.

Talking about inspiration, I wonder what is it that has really inspired me to write my first blog. Well, it's not just one. My friends inspire me.. and so do books. It could even be the fear of being left-out as the only non-blogger in the software community! Ah.. and books! None can undermine the level of satisfaction and companionship that one could possibly derive out of reading a book. Every book is usually the result of hours of careful compilation of innumerable thoughts, experiences, fantasies and views of and by an author. Hence, by reading a book, you indirectly add a fair amount of all those mentioned above to your own warehouse of thoughts, experiences, fantasies and views. However, many people read books just for the pleasure of reading, though! More than mere assimilation of information, it's the sheer pleasure of reading, the pleasure of holding on to a "tangible" source of pleasure, which keeps readers addicted to them for a lifetime. I've somehow found that missing in "e-books"!

Again, to get started on reading books also wasn't quite easy for me. It was almost a challenge for any book to make me get involved in it and provide me with the interest to hold on to it and read it till the last page. I used to look at some of my friends with awe, who'd complete reading a 600-odd page novel in no time and even recommend it for me to read. But then, I never believed I could ever complete reading even one such book in my lifetime. Finally, it took one great effort from Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code, to get me started on reading. One hell of a book that was, which made the world stand up on its feet. It also made me realize that nothing captivates and thrills a reader more than iconoclasm, not even science-fiction and horror. The author somehow, seems to have understood that well, which is quite evident from his plots circling around similar themes in his other books too.

There's been no looking back since I completed reading The DaVinci Code. I'd read quite a number of books after that, most of them annoyingly mediocre, except the most recent one that I read - "God's Debris" by Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame). The book is a "thought experiment" that provides explanations (and most of them, convincing) to some of the "all-time mysteries", which mankind has unsuccessfully dealt with and has passed on as a legacy for generations. I'm sure this is one must-read for anyone who'd dare to delve into the depths of his / her mind and throw a challenge at the beliefs that had been lying underneath for years - beliefs fortified partly by their own experience and partly by superstitions!