Most people their age take to leisurely walks and daylong newspaper reading, if that is they are not stuck to the TV. But a distinctly elder population of India has surprisingly gotten addicted to a medium associated more with Gen Y. Nidhi Mittal tells you how the 60 plus men and women have become compulsive bloggers
He shares his travel plans, his journeys far and wide, what goes on at home and with his health, and not to mention, his hard day at work.
She likes to comment on whatever comes her way during the course of the day and things political and social.
He is on a more creative side with mostly poetic expressions pondering over life’s reality and the truths that engulf it.
All this on a forum that’s least private and open to one and all on the worldwide web. The blog. And the set of people one is talking about are no Gen Y’s cool dudes and dudettes.
One is a 67-year-old brightest star of the world’s largest film industry, other a 61-year-old writer known for her distinct dressing style with a rather strong tinge of sexuality in all that she writes in her books, while the third is a 64-year-old Indian film director/producer who takes home the claim for Academy Award winning period film Elizabeth in 1998.
Amitabh Bachchan, Shobhaa De and Shekhar Kapur are just a few names in the vast list of people who, long after crossing their late middle age, are not only up-to-date with the latest technology, but also addicted to it.
Blogging has been around for quite some time, gaining popularity as a medium where anyone can share their views and reach people from across the world. The medium has shortened the global distance with bringing like-minded people together who love sharing similar thoughts. But it caught hold of the Indian media’s imagination when superstar Amitabh Bachchan was spotted on bigadda.com talking about his daily schedule and generating hundreds of comments from people across the globe.
It all began on April 17, 2008, when for the first time a two-liner by Big B announcing his entry to the ‘blog-world’ generated 452 comments. “This is my blog.. welcome to it and hope we have a pleasant time interacting with each other. I shall start with a few views on my upcoming film Bhootnath.. hope you will give your comments,” was all that he posted. Responders went ga-ga over “how happy and glad” they were to see him on a forum that’s most familiar to them.
But was this ageing star as familiar with this ‘instant interactive forum’? BigB says “No!”. Calling himself a “techno-retard”, the 67-year-old actor adds that he was introduced to the concept by his family almost a year ago, just before he started a blog of his own.
“For years, people who are fond of the film industry and have liked my work have been wanting to come across a medium through which they can get all the information about me and my family. So we were wondering if we should set up a website loaded with suitable things. Then, it was suggested to me that I should start a blog, which is actually a great medium of expression,” Bachchan said at an event organised to promote his forthcoming film Rann, directed by “maverick” Ram Gopal Varma.
Calling blogging an opportunity to sit across the desk with his fans, virtually, and communicate directly, the actor stresses that he appreciates all kinds of responses from his readers, be it abuses or criticism.
“Later, I came to know that there is a device called moderator which can filter the comments (read abuses) to my posts, but I decided to not install it as I would like to know all hues of responses,” BigB says.
A day-to-day diary entry by Bachchan made for interesting news stories for both print and electronic media with Hindi news channels lavishly playing his posts accompanied by thrilling graphics.
Be it his relapsing cervical neck pain or his congratulating cricketer MS Dhoni for Team India’s victory — which drew no response from the man in question — each blog that Bachchan writes not only draws hundreds of comments but also makes it to the top of entertainment news pages and slots. Unfazed, the star sticks to what he calls the medium of tomorrow, “more powerful than print and electronic media”.
While Amitabh’s blog is more of a personal account, director/producer Shekhar Kapur’s blog is a pleasure to read for those inclined more towards poetry and life’s philosophy. The man, who spends most part of the year abroad, takes home the credit for critically acclaimed films like Mr India, Bandit Queen and Elizabeth. His creative genius also reflects in his blog shekharkapur.com/blog.
Sixtyfour-year-old Kapur’s last blog entry on May 3 titled Solitary Confinement is poem about how one should release the ego from the prison of mind and body. He says:
“For the ego can exist
only in finite possibilities
needing to enclose itself
in a part of the universe
walled off from the rest of creation
and from within that prison
to show itself off
yearning to be recognized,
to be individualized
to be admired
and from within that prison
to be loved!”
Though his absence from India could not generate any response from Kapur about his addiction to his blog which he updates almost everyday, the poetic responses to his blogs show how like-minded people connect through this forum. Kapur’s blogs are a reflection of his need for a calm evening, his sense of appreciation of nature and enjoyment of a little girl’s innocent laughter, rather than his age.
It’s hard to believe that the stylish saree-clad writer Shobhaa De would also fall in this age category of bloggers, but she does and her blogs again defy the age-factor. She’s uptight with today’s ‘lingo’ and claims to be the biggest fan of this medium.
“I’ll be only half-joking if I say that I am the future of blogging. I love the medium. You are talking to a fan. I see blogging growing into a separate space which throws up great talent. I would say traditional publishers better watch out! They have got competition,” says De.
The zeal that the 61-year-old author shows once you start talking about her blog shobhaade.blogspot.com shows how addicted she is to it, though she confesses that she was a techno-phobic “till I discovered an entirely new and seductive universe — cyberspace. Today, I am a techno-victim! I cannot imagine life without my laptop. It is almost a body part,” she asserts.
From Priyanka Gandhi’s style to brother Rahul’s dimples, from voting mumbo-jumbo to thrilling IPL, De’s keyboard hasn’t missed anything. “I am a blog addict. I go into withdrawal if, for any reason, I can’t blog on a particular day. Blogging is my new high. I love the instant connectivity it provides. I have a really lively, opinionated forum. I also use the blog to promote causes I believe in. The response is tremendous,” she says.
Promotion of their projects is one reason why these ageing celebrities initially became members of the ‘bloggers’ park’. Amitabh started his blog to promote his film Bhootnath, while De did so to reach the masses while launching her book Superstar India.
Political personalities like LK Advani and Lalu Prasad Yadav too came aboard to promote their poll prospects, especially among the young voters.
Other avid bloggers are ex-supercop Kiran Bedi, director Sudhir Mishra, former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Nana Patekar, but most of them have lost track of it over time.
Then there is this fast increasing number of ‘veteran’ bloggers who don’t have a celebrity status, but have been hooked on to this medium for a significant period of time and are a rage among the blogging community.
One such blogger is Jyotsna Kamat, a PhD from Bangalore. She is 73 years old and has been blogging since 2002. At the start of the conversation, the septuagenarian is quick to confess, rather candidly, that she is not computer savvy. “I don’t like it. I am an old-fashioned, pen and paper person. I prefer to write and receive letters,” she says.
Kamat started blogging as a rehabilitation process after the loss of her husband who was a writer. She was inspired by her son and daughter-in-law who live in the US.
In the introduction to her blog kamat.com/jyotsna.blog, she writes: “I only have a vague idea of what a blog is, and I am not so sure how this will be received by our patrons. But I wish to share with you my experiences of my long career as a broadcaster in India, my studies of history, and excerpts from ancient Indian literature. I am sure that this is the world’s most low tech blog, written on paper, typed by a third person (mostly my daughter-in-law), and proof-read on paper.”
The reason why she’s sticking to blogging is the reach it gives her all over the world.
Kamat says that the reason why people her age are not up-to-date with technology is because it isolates humans from their surroundings and nature.
“Then, the technology changes so fast that it becomes difficult for older people to keep up with it. Older technology like the radio, pen or a typewriter don’t require a relearning process,” she explains.
But the responses that the posts on her website generate regularly instill her old bones with a fresh zeal to write as much as she can. On the other hand, she also thanks the modern day technology for helping her stay in constant touch with her children and concludes the conversation by quipping that there are more blogs now than the number of people in the world, “which explains the popularity of the medium.”
