This entry is devoted to all my silent readers. Slowly and steadily, my 'blog is attracting readers from all over the world; just got an email from a sweet young lady from Singapore. I started this site (back when 'blogs had to be hand-coded) to basically write down what was on my mind from day to day and share it with my family and friends back in India. Turns out my friends here also found it interesting and now I find welcome strangers who send me an email every other day telling me how they agree or disagree with something I wrote. Some email me just to give a compliment or two.

To everyone who reads this 'blog: Thank you very much! I may not ever win The Bloggies but I've already won my share of cherished well-wishers. And trust me that's all that matters. No seriously. I swear. Trust me on this one! OK FINE! I admit. A bloggie would be cool. Even a nomination! Though I don't know what category? The cutest Indian ;)? Ha!

I guess the only thing I'd like to tell you is that my 'blog is just about as honest I can be to the outside world. While nobody wants to admit it, I think there are different levels of honesty - among friends, between couples, among co-workers, with the whole world, and within yourself. Most people's definition of honesty is restricted to just one of these. So if your definition of honesty means being as honest as if you are talking to yourself, then my whole 'blog is a big lie. Certainly, I can never tell EVERYTHING I think of or tell. There are incidents in everyone's life that nobody wants to talk about and for the most part, maybe they shouldn't unless the moment is right and can benefit both parties. Hence on my 'blog, I choose not to divulge past misexperiences unless there is something to be gleaned from.

Now if you think honest means being as honest as you are to your friends and family, then I think I come pretty close. I've never talked badly about anyone I know on my blog but this doesn't mean I don't hate anyone. There are people I absolutely despise but I don't think they deserve my time and attention; their faces shall fade away with time yet the lessons they inadvertently taught me will stay fresh in my mind forever.

So what's my definition of honesty? It is a measure of the distance between what you tell yourself and what you tell the world. For no average human is that distance zero. Honesty is the best policy they say. An old proverb says, "The first step toward greatness is to be honest." So what is the definition of greatness? While I'm sure it's hard to define and comprises of honesty, good deeds, morality etc., let us just look at the honesty part for now.

By my definition, Honesty = 1 / (Yourself - World). So the more the distance between yourself and the world, the lower your score of honesty and as the truth-level between yourself and world comes closer, your honesty score rises. Since greatness depends on honesty, when honesty rises so does greatness. Now here's my theory. I said above that for no average human is the distance zero. What if the distance is zero for someone then? Are they average? No, they are...

Greatness = Honesty + ... = 1 / (Yourself - World) + ... = 1 / 0 + ... = Infinity + ... = Infinity = Mahatma.

It's no wonder that he is known as the father of the Indian nation. While I'll never be able to make my 'blog as honest as his life, I do try to be natural and let inspiration take over my keyboard from time to time, instead of pretending to write pseudo-interesting flashy 'blog entries. When I don't feel like talking, I don't. When I want to discuss my laundry, I do. And anytime I hear from a stranger from Singapore, I drag on and on about honesty and what-not :) I give importance to honesty on my blog so much, because I am very easily influenced as you can probably tell. So while any small incident can prompt a long-drawn entry or a short-curt post, I do have to stop and think for a moment whether this is me doing the entry or someone trying to get me to. Often times in life we do things we just "think" we are doing but instead are just following unspoken orders. And once you get on the track, it's too late to go back.

But then sometimes there's no time to stop and think. Like right now. I have three exams tomorrow and I have absolutely no time to stop and think about anything. So I absolutely MUST get back to studying and leave 'blogging for another day.

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