In the blog world

Celebrity blogs, should I say. When Deepak Chopra, Shekar Kapur, Nandita Das, Vandhana Shiva and the likes blog, it is celebrity blog. Intent, they call it.
http://www.intentblog.com/

According to them, "Intent is the womb of creation that will nurture and unlock the creative and imaginative energies of Asian people as they become the prime cultural voice of the mass media in this brave new digital world"

In a way, I am glad that Asia, and in particular India will be leaders of a change. 'Americanization' of our lives is something I strongly feel against. It is widely believed that Hollywood and American TV (include the news networks) controls everything from what is fashionable to wear to what is a good read. What is right and what to believe is also dictated by a small flock of Godsends. A kinda "My way or the highway". So a voice, any voice is welcome. May it be loud enough to be heard in the din. And more importantly may it always be a righteous voice and not be corrupt by the power it gains.

Talking of celebrity blogging, came across Ashok Banker's blog. I am not sure if he counts as a celebrity given that I had to introduce him to my friends as a writer working on a modern retelling of Ramayana and they went Oh!!! I hurried to reassure that he is not a saffron clad old man or that Rama is still the good guy but is writing the Ramayana in a Tolkein-ish fashion, a fantasy with lot of demons and war. Just to lend a measure to his repute, I add that his Ramayana has been compared to the Harry Potter series - for its fantasy, its popularity and for bringing back kids to books.

I haven't yet read any of his books but I have heard only good reviews about his "Prince of Ayodhya" and "Demons of Chitrakoot".

Frankly, it doesn't matter if you are a celebrity or not in the blog world. All that matters is that you have a 'readable' blog. And readable, these blogs definitely are.