Interview with Indyeah – Part 1

‘I have left the girl I was supposed to be and someday I’ll be born……..’ says the blogger who is interviewed today. She is an educationist by profession, a dancer and an avid book reader. Travelling around India and eventually around the world is her dream. She is one of the Four Pillars of NGI (No Gender Inequality) and a top blogger. Yes!! She’s ‘Indyeah’ :). Get into the brains behind ‘Consider it Crashed’.

Q: ‘Consider it Crashed’. We loved the title and would love to know more about the story behind it 🙂

A: Thanks 😀 . To tell you the truth, when I first registered my blog this was a random song playing in my mind. The gist of the song was  if you  are ever about to crash I will be right there to hold you.

So the *ahem* romantic soul that I am, I thought to myself hmmm so  Consider It Crashed 😀 (the tagline on the old  blogspot blog used to be ‘ If that’s what it takes’ 😀 ) Of course it was only later that I realised that this was also a  unique name for a blog and that search engines threw up this name if anyone typed Consider it Crashed.

Q: What happened back in December ‘08 that made you decide to start blogging?

A: What happened? *tries to find a place to hide*

Nothing except that this amnesiac was finally able to remember her password. 😀

But seriously, I had grown tired of the social networking sites that I was a part of and felt suffocated. Plus this was a  beautiful way to know new minds (the minds are what we  meet don’t we?) without getting funny ‘fraandship’  requests. 😀

While blogging I could write about anything and everything I wanted.

The beauty of blogging was the sheer freedom it offered. My thoughts were unfettered . There were no do’s and dont’s as such. So it was with absolute delight and a sense of anticipation that I joined the blogworld 🙂

Q: What topics do you generally blog about?

A: I blog about anything and everything. Whatever happens to catch my fancy.

Sometimes the jumble of thoughts that’s inside my head becomes too much and there in no other option but to write them down. My blog is more of an adda 😀  (Ed: We love this word! :)) where friends get together and chat about life, love, politics and more.

Come to think of it, just one word would have answered the question. 😀 Life.

Q: Do you ever get stuck when writing an entry?  What do you do then?

A: Well those who have been my friends ever since I began blogging would know that this has never happened.. If anything they have had to deal with long rambling posts. 😀

I only write when I want to. So even if a dozen thoughts are churning in my mind and I don’t feel the need to pen them down I don’t. It’s not an obligation.

I am here to meet new people, discover new ideas. I blog simply because I love the human connections one finds here. That’s it.

However if someone is facing a writer’s block the simple solution would be to not feel guilty or obliged to blog. Simply let it be. Keep reading blogs/books, newspapers, watching t.v. In other words, forget that you even have a blog and it’ll all come back to you. 😀

Q: What promotional techniques work best for you and why?

A: Promotional techniques .. Hmmm..

I am not sure that I consciously think of it as a promotional technique but yes people are more aware of you and your blog when you go and interact with them. Isn’t that how relationships are formed even in the real world? And so it is the same here too in this virtual world.

I keep discovering new bloggers and I do make it a point to drop by and  say hello to them. Because I can still remember how warmly I was welcomed when I first started blogging and how those early day friends are still with me on the same journey. So I am simply continuing the circle of love and friendship. 🙂

Q: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

A: I think (and this is only my opinion) that it is VERY important for a blogger to interact with the readers/commenters.

No matter how busy one is, it is of utmost importance that one interacts.

If not today then tomorrow but do reply. Because if people are commenting on one’s post giving a precious part of their day then it becomes important to reply and reciprocate and make them feel that their time IS indeed  precious and important and that it is valued by you. Not replying makes me feel as if I have been cold to them or hurt them and given them a brushoff.

You know the cut direct as they used to say in good ol England .

Yes, I respond to all the comments I receive. And cannot imagine not doing so. Plus I am a BIG chatterbox in real life so that helps as well 😀

That however does not mean that I expect everyone to reply to me when I comment. Its just my personal opinion as far as my blog is concerned.

Q: You seem not to like individuals who are hypocritically pious. Attacks all over the world are happening on the lines of religious extremism. What are your views on this? Are you religious?

A: You are absolutely right about that. I don’t like such individuals. This observation was however in context of India . The country where I live and which I  know best. More than any other in the world for sure.

By hypocritical people I mean those who judge. I have met quite a few people in the blogworld (and in the real world as well) who on the surface seem to be open to debates and discussions but there is this underlying tendency to judge.

There is this belief that they are saving me from my own ‘misconceptions’ 😀

Discussions and debates are fine, it is the arrogant certainty that some individuals have that they will ‘convert’ me to their way of thinking by the end of a discussion that gets my goat.

Ramming one’s point down the throat of another will NOT work no matter how correct the point might be.

For such people these words are the only ones I have.

“Remember that I’m Human. Before you judge me or decide how you’ll deal with me, walk awhile in my shoes. If you do, I think you’ll find with more understanding we can meet in the middle and walk the rest of the way together.”
– Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura: Walk Awhile In My Shoes

When you say ‘hypocritically pious’, I take that to mean pseudo secular in India’s context.

I do NOT like individuals or organisations  that are pseudo secular. In my book, every evil should be highlighted prominently and bashed up equally. If a person or party A is abhorrent to me because he/she/the party  belongs to or is affiliated to certain very dubious principles then person or party B is equally abhorrent to me because they encourage party/person A by their silence and by their long(-est) running and dare I say equally divisive policies/politics/speeches.

As far as religious extremism is concerned the first thought is that this is wrong. Extremism in any form is wrong and more so when it takes lives.
No religion in the world teaches that one should kill. In today’s day and age where tempers are getting shorter and tolerance is at a premium, it becomes even more important that we stop resorting to violent methods when we feel that justice has not been done/or we have been treated unfairly/or that we have been slighted.

NOTHING can justify violence and taking of human lives.

In my personal view religion should stay out of public life. It should stay as part of private life. The moment religion enters the public arena all the troubles start.

I don’t understand why or how people can justify wearing religious symbols in places like schools. The whole point of a school, the basic premise is that future citizens, young minds will go and learn… no ..not just subjects but also all about humanity. About how everyone is equal and the same underneath all the differences. About how they are there as part of something greater. Something called humanity.

But this drama by adults where they demand that their kids be ‘allowed’ to wear such and such thing in educational institutions  is mind boggling and ridiculous in the extreme. Religion is a private affair and it should stay there. That said, let me also say that religion too should be respected and not treated like the thousands of other organisations in the world.

Simply because this is an issue that since time immemorial has led to a lot of bloodshed. Religion whenever provoked has led to lives being lost and homes being destroyed.

Ideally, religion should stay out of public life.

Ideally, religion should be able to rise above all petty differences and any attempts to defame it/attack it (whether real or imaginary).

Ideally, people who truly follow the tenets of their  respective  religions should be peaceful and law abiding.

That is not the case however. This world is not ideal. Neither are the religions. Nor the followers of all the religions.

So I think it is upto us to strike a delicate balance and see from time to time as to how much the boundaries of religious tolerance can be stretched.

A balance between absolute  freedom of expression and religious tolerance needs to be found and found urgently at that.

Q: ‘Indyeah’ seems to be derived from India, as you keep on telling your friends ‘I’m an Indian’. 🙂 Did any particular incident or event in your life made you choose ‘Indyeah’?

A: Usually, I keep mum when it comes to identity of any kind. It is a dicey issue and I am never sure if the person in question would be offended or not. No incident has had any effect as such. I think it has more to do with the nomadic life that I have led as a  kid because my father was in the army. So, I could never identify myself with any particular region as such. It was  a beautiful rainbow of colours, languages, cuisines, dresses… ..the list is endless ..and I loved them all.

Yes, when I am asked, I do emphasise on my Indian identity. Not a ‘proud’  Indian mind you, but simply an Indian. Nothing more , nothing less.

From here, I am still trying to reach that level where I would perhaps be able to call myself a global citizen. Because I know that as of now I do fume when other countries act in ways that seem harmful to Indian interests.

The labels that I don’t understand are those like ‘proud’. You know like I am a proud Hindu or a proud so and so.. or Proud (any religion) Proud (name any Indian state), and the list goes on and on.

Because from being proud to feeling superior it’s a very, very short jump indeed. And we tend to forget this. Or maybe we don’t want to remember.

And this is why the name Indyeah. Because Indyeah doesn’t restrict my vision. It allows me to breathe as the citizen of a country and not of X,Y, Z region. Also Indyeah because it seemed uber cool to me 😀

That and the fact that it easily rolled off my tongue. It’s a name that conjures up a mental picture of India. And at the same time its a gen  X kinda name 😉

To be continued…

Super. For the second time, we are forced to split the interview into two parts as the answers are wonderfully crafted, detailed and insightful. 🙂 In the second part, come back to know about Indyeah’s Favourite Five blogs (and also why she likes them), her views on India, Freedom & Religious extremism and a few secrets. BTW, you can gatecrash at Indyeah’s blog here. 😀

Updated: Indyeah’s Interview – Part 2