Why the urge to blog *now* ?

The itch to blog has been there for several years. But I’m more of a generalist than a specialist. I believe it’s much easier for specialists to blog regularly than generalists. Audiences are interested in reading and subscribing to blogs that have a certain theme, focus, and some level of predictability. The operative word is focus.

As my close friends will attest to, I’m an extremely curious individual with diverse interests. One of my friends once remarked that I’m the most curious person he knows. I’ve decided to use Twitter as the outlet for my (unfocused) stream of consciousness. If you are curious, you may check out twitter.com/ulaar (primary life + work tweets) and twitter.com/dataholic (twitter-size data factoids that I’ve found interesting).

I created my WordPress account sometime in Jan 2008, wrote my first post on Feb 7, 2008 (largely inspired by the excitement I felt about Qik) but it was only in early-May that I started posting regularly. Why? The answer may be that I’ve found my muse (Shhh! don’t tell anyone just yet. Don’t want the muse to get upset and run away). The long-sought focus for my blog is our family decision to move back to India.

After spending the most recent 40% of my life in America, the decision to move back to India is a pivotal and life-altering event for us. One of the reasons to blog about this experience is simply to “think aloud” and use this medium as a reflective online diary. The other, more compelling reason, is my fond hope that other Indian-Americans (and perhaps even the larger Indian diaspora) would find my account useful if they are contemplating a similar move themselves. In the past 3 years, I requested every friend and acquaintance (and there were several) who moved back to India to blog about their experience. To date, no one has obliged. I’m determined to break the jinx/laziness/whatever… 🙂

Who knows how long it will take us to re-assimilate ourselves into the Indian social milieu. Estimates from friends, relatives, and moved-back-to-India veterans have ranged from 1 to 2 years. All in all, there should be ample material to write about during the next 1-2 years – me thinks. Of course, you (the reader) will decide whether it’s worth reading or not. 🙂

In the coming weeks and months, I shall strive to post as detailed an account as possible. Will endeavor to cover a wide range of issues – everything from finding a job in India to deciding on which city to live to housing decisions to kids schools to finding a suitable driver to who knows what else.

In just a few hours, I’ll be getting on a plane to fly to India – Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore are the three cities I’ll be covering in a span of two weeks. The trip agenda is part-interviewing and part-scouting. On the interviewing-end, talking to both large and small software companies – the common theme I’m hearing is a heightened sense of excitement that India is no longer just the back office operation for the Western world.