somebody that I used to know

Everyone has been writing that it was inevitable, but it brings a tinge of sadness nonetheless. Sepia Mutiny is coming to a close.

I've been giving a lot of credit to that blog for putting me in touch with some fascinating folks on the web, but if I really trace it back, all the way back, right to the point of its absolute essence, it wasn't actually Sepia Mutiny. Here's the truth. It was blogs. Yes, that dead dinosaur, this format that I can't seem to quit.

Manish and Anna and Abhi had these amazing, lightning-rod blogs that I and many others read voraciously. I thought Sepia Mutiny was pure brilliance when it started; I thought if you combined such forces, nothing could stop it. Maybe that was partially true. But I saw the price that was paid. Each of their blogs dwindled down. With the exception of Anna, when they did blog, their writing became less personal. And frankly, it was those little moments, the little glimpses inside, those were the things that made me so drawn to the community.

I have always contended that I don't share commonality with people who watch Bollywood movies. It's not idli or samosa or sarees which tied me to anyone. What interested me were their voices, the shared experiences. Things we found funny, that we could only appreciate because of our joint experiences. The way Amardeep could dissect an interesting piece of writing. J-money's sassy commentary on food or television or movies or her parents would remind me of some long-lost friend I never knew I had. Or supplesomething's poetic prose. Or maitri's infallible no-bullsh*t breaking-it-down here's-the-way-it-is observations that would make me want to cheer. The little-sisterly feeling tamasha always brought out in me.

Those were the things which caught my interest, made me want to better know these bloggers. In the beginning, in those early days, right before Sepia Mutiny, these bloggers inadvertently encouraged me to blog. And maybe there are too many, and plentiful, and enough voices now. Maybe we don't need Sepia Mutiny, and maybe we don't need blogs. But me, I'm never making any real connections over Twitter. I'll never find myself endeared to someone by discovering their Facebook page. It's the blogs. It's the words. I'm a sucker for words. I'm a sucker for way, way greater than 140 characters. I'm a sucker for more is more. I won't really miss Sepia Mutiny, because I haven't been reading it for years. But I will miss what Sepia Mutiny promised, and the people who brought us Sepia Mutiny. And I already miss all those voices who've grown quiet.

Me, I'll stay in the ancient times, in this echo chamber, with words, words, words. Manish and Abhi and A N N A taught me how, so blame them.