Sunday, June 12, 2005

Anonymice

Criticism is something I can live with - and learn from. But not from random, anonymous people.

And hence, for the first time, I have taken the trouble to delete some particularly hateful - and hurtful - comments of 'anonymous' origins left on this blog.

These anonymice have the following problems:
a) "Every post you write is about IIM... "
Huh? That's factually incorrect. But even if it were true, this is my blog. You're not being forced - at gunpoint - to read it!

b) "You don't reply... " or "You reply only to people with an IIM connection"
Huh ?? I don't reply that often because I don't just blog - I have a life. Time is finite! Besides, not all comments merit a response - often there's nothing of value I can add beyond what I've originally written.

But I do take note of comments - and ALWAYS reply to anyone who directly emails me.

Thought for the day
If the word 'IIM' does tend to pop up in my writings now and then it's because for me it was a singular and defining experience.

I'm reminded of a very beautiful observation in a special issue of Time magazine called the 'Asian Journey Home' in which immigrants go back to their homeland and write about the experience.

This is what Karl Taro Greenfeld wrote in an essay about the experience of returning to Tokyo where he spent the days of his "youth" (a decade ago) and finding everything had changed. What he was seeking was another world which existed only in the "repository of his memories".

"If you are truthful to yourself, you will admit there was a time when you felt most honstly and authentically yourself. A week or a month or, perhaps if you are lucky, a year or two when the swirling circles representing your character, personality, style and appearance swam into perfect congruence and you were precisely the person you aspired to be. When I return to Tokyo I am reminded of that state of equilibrium".


For me, perhaps, the two years spent at IIM A captured this state. Which is why my mind wanders back to it quite often. As simple as that!

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:06 PM

    Grow Up girl and Ooutgrow IIM-A

    Is it possible that you keep visiting your alma matter just to remind yourself that you should have tried getting placed at Mckinsey, A T Kearney, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs or worse even HLL/Marico; rather than wasting yourself with JAM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:19 PM

    @ anonymice, your comments are in bad taste. Its a criminal use of ur ability to post a comment. You seem to be some sadist who tries hard to write a blog as good as youthcurry but fails and than u pour your frustration here. Its time for you to grow up dude. Be creative instead of destructive and if u can't get lost.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:24 PM

    Rashmi, you are absolutely right about "filthy idiots" hanging around cyberspace. If one has to comment on Slashdot(the nerdy website), there is an option for "Anonymous coward)-the same that the first one has done.

    I am sorry if you are getting hateful comments; thats the part and parcel of the public sphere. One way could be to shift to Word press and allow comments only after moderation. I am not very happy with Blogger.

    And it should be noone's problem to read more oftener about IIM-A. Frankly, it doesnt make a dime of a difference to me. Though I am proud of the fact that u chose to take u r own path. Keep it up girl! Way to go.

    Plus take this as an official endorsement of support from a fellow Indian and a blogger.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with you on the "revisiting the alma mater theme". Though the anonymous guy said it in a mean way, I can agree to some extent that glorification of past summits may have smething to do with unclimbed mountains in the present.

    Whether or not that applies to you, I do not know. But one thing I know: if anonymous were my boss at work, I would be miserable. If you were my boss, I would have fun.

    keep up the fine blog

    ReplyDelete
  5. i guess these 'hate' comments don't deserve that much importance that you write a separate article on them clarifying yourself. Clicking "Delete" buttons should suffice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:19 AM

    and ALWAYS reply to anyone who directly emails me.

    No you don't. I have sent emails to the JAM editor ID in the past and you did not reply. Not that it matters. I suppose what I submitted was not suitable for JAM. My age perhaps puts me in the 'target group' of JAM and my honest opinion of the journal is that it does NOT rock, but then it doesn't have to rock for everyone. I don't see why you publish gaudy posters of filmstars. Your blog is intelligent, the cover humour of JAM (the one or two issues that I have come across) is appealing. But JAM as a magazine/paper is not what I would subscribe to. Not that you are forcing me, which is what you would say in reply if you do reply. But what I mean to say is: what is the idea of JAM? Not that you *have* to explain, because you have a life outside the blog.

    And I don't see why you should make a fuss of hate-comments. Just press delete. Or disable anonymous commenting. Or get haloscan. Or disable comments altogether.

    The IIM bit - yes, you overdo it and it looks immature. Going to Red Rose nursery school did mean a lot to me, but would I include that in my bio for a Businessworld cover story? I would not. A person grows everyday and is greater than the institutions s/he went to. If one went to elite institutions (such as the IIM's or the IIT's) one has to be careful of the need for humility. I say this even as I am myself in an elite institution. Constantly saying that one is an 'IIM product' or an IIT - you have the right to choose how you define yourself, but it does show lack of confidence in oneself and thus the need to attach labels to ones identity.

    Really long comment. Sorry. You must be busy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:24 AM

    By the way, your blog homepage does not provide your email ID. So what's the big deal if you reply all mails - and this claim is false as I said above.
    adreesh

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2:43 AM

    Wow. Just wow. Your blog. Your thoughts. I don't get why people don't get that.

    Sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. One quick and final reply on the subject:
    a) Deleting comments is a waste of time and energy - I don't like doing it. When, after 4 months of blogging I finally decided to, I felt the need to explain why. The issue of mean, anonymous comments affects not just me but many of us!

    b) When I said I ALWAYS reply I meant people who mail me through this blog. The mail that rains into the jammag id is sometimes hard to handle. I do try and reply to as many as possible but can't vouch for it.

    c) Adreesh - 30,000 young people buy JAM magazine - many more read it. It cannot be all things to all people. And that's that!

    And btw, blogger profile contains my email id.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:24 PM

    sara said... Wow. Just wow. Your blog. Your thoughts. I don't get why people don't get that.

    So either you are wrong or the rest of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:45 AM

    Anonymous,

    Maybe it's just that entire freedom of speech thing that I hold dear to my heart...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous2:15 PM

    yeah! yet another anon! bcoz i dont have a blogger id and usually land up everywhere thru google. some views out of my puny mind :-

    1. Anon posters are like me who dont have an account or who like to remain anon for one reason or the other. Besides one cud always get a account and go on posting comments. so dont target anon posters!

    2. i think its better if you ask yourself this question "why do i blog?" you said you dont have the time blah blah..but still you blog. the reasons cud be various , like you have lots of ideas and you want ppl to know abt them .. you want their feedback etc etc. so you should consider the possibilty there are going to be some retards;according to you; who dont jsut get what you say and go on commenting stupid stuff;again according to you; on your blog. i guess remove the comments option if you are going to be senti abt stuff.

    3. why did you delete those comments? now how the hell do i know you are talking abt? i guess you should only delete the comments from spammers and not those comments that insult or humilate you coz the ppl who have posted them are entitled to their opinions. and its foolish of you to think that its your blog. a blog is supposed to be interactive i guess!

    4. i think the anon has some kind of personal grudge on you , maybe bcoz you got into IIMA and he/she didnt. good enuf. he thinks you wasted your life with JAM , but does it really matter ?? as long as you are happy its ok!

    5. if ppl think you are snobbish and dont reply to their mails , let them think so. besides dont be hypocrite if you really dont! tell those losers , you are not from IIM so i dont bother! :)

    6. you articles on iim on rediff are good and they are better than the usual iim this iim that kinda crap. but in india if you show the faults in the system, its assumed that you are at fault. the system is NEVER at fault, thats why its the system. so enggs are going to dominate IIMS, most of them from IIT blah blah blah. get over it!

    phew! that was long! maybe i should have a blog of my own! :)

    anywho, moral of the story , dont delete comments even though you think they are illogical,sarcastic,vindictive,acerbic,... and other barron GRE words.
    flaunt them proudly as your scars!

    bye!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I hv been reading your blog for sometime now, and wud like to comment on this topic.

    I wud try 2 b objective as far as possible.

    Firstly, about the anonymous mails, i agree with you, its ur call. u delete it or u keep. after all who wud like 2 listen 2 a person's views if he/she is not confident himself/herself to reveal his/her identity.So, no probs on tht count.

    Now, abt tht IIM-A stuff. Frankly speaking, I do find u obsessed with tht one name, and find a lot of reference 2 it in ur blogs.
    Nothing wrong in tht, but I wud like 2 bring abt the perspective of some ppl who may find u showing off.

    I agree IIM might hv changed ur life, n must hv given u gr8 learning experience, but I feel no experience can b definitive, in a sense, one can b affected deeply by an experience at different stages of life, but one has 2 move on. One can't cringe 2 it throughout his/her life.Coz tht in a way hampers ur growth, as u feel u hv already been baptized.
    i am not an IIM-ite myself, but I believe this much tht IIM itself is not end of the world.The whole world inside may b enlightening but it is not complete in itself.

    Also,i dont know y but i hv noticed one very strong similarity among the IIT or IIM crowd. When u meet them the first time, they will somehow or the other convey their alma mater 2 u. So, going by the book 'Blink', it acts as a cover for ppl in the first place and they start judging u with different specs.
    I have no problems in ppl doing tht, as they hv achieved sthg gr8 in life, n so r entiltled 2 show off. But I feel surprised tht ppl r not confident enof 2 let others make an opinion abt them by their talk n intellect. Instead they'll blind u with the piece of info tht wud enhance their image suddenly.

    So, i hv this piece of suggestion tht u try 2 make a conscious effort 2 move out of this IIM-A shell. Wherever relevant n reqd, its refernce shud definitely figure, but if its like having an IIM perspective 2 evry topic, its then tht things may seem ugly for some.

    N mind u, i'm not jealous coz i cudnt make it.Just tried 2 present things objectively.

    Asset

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous7:22 AM

    I always heard something from my neighbor that he sometimes goes to the internet bar to play the game which will use him some LOTRO Gold, he usually can win a lot of Lord Of The Rings Gold, then he let his friends all have some buy LOTRO Gold, his friends thank him very much for introducing them the cheap Lord Of The Rings GoldI am so happy to get some LOTRO Gold and the Lord Of The Rings Gold is given by my close friend who tells me that the buy LOTRO Gold is the basis to enter into the game. Therefore, I should buy Archlord gold with the spare money and I gain some cheap Lord Of The Rings Gold from other players.

    ReplyDelete

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