As of now, the author of all these posts is Prakhar Pandey, a resident of Jabalpur, a small town in Madhya Pradesh on the banks of the serene Narmada in India. He is a student, a teacher, a writer and also aspires to be a public servant and a journalist and a lawyer. Being so many things is quite difficult and just like most of us, he generally ends up being nothing. (He is also AIR 507 in UPSC CSE 2020.)
To help you satisfy your curiosity about this guy, here is an excerpt from an interview we had with him.
Why do you write all this bullshit?
I don't think a person needs a reason to write. I have never been asked why I write but I know everyone asks this every time they read something from me and don't understand it. Thus, I have come to love specifying this reason:
As the description of the blog says, this is generally me talking to myself, so it must not bother you why I write.
Why do you talk to yourself? Do you suggest your readers should do that too?
Yes. You might already be doing that when you go on with random, boring, repetitive tasks in your life. For example, when you drive, you might very well be thinking about things as vast as how to fix the roads or how to fix the person sitting next to you. This is you talking to yourself. I have simply taken this to the next level by formalizing this process.
Most of what we say to ourselves is lost. I write it down because it is generally important and significant stuff.
PS: I also write down seemingly insignificant things like my dreams. I suggest you should too.
If you talk to yourself, then why do you post it here?
There is a threefold answer to this absurd question.
1. Written words are fundamentally different from spoken words in that they don't vanish the moment they come into existence (of course, if there is no echo). Just like spoken words are meant to be heard, written words are meant to be read. I can't simply write down my conversations with myself and burn that thing.
2. I have so many talks with myself that it becomes really difficult to keep track. Thus, to systematically arrange and keep a record of these, I made a blog.
3. These conversations, as I have already mentioned, are really important things. They need to be released to a limited public who might actually have an interest in reading. Now, this is a blog, not a lowly site like Twitter. Only enlightened people come here (and that's why, not more than 2 per day). This gives me the necessary personal space as well as the interaction.
Why is the blog called "The Second Colour"?
Interesting question. This should have been the first question on your list.
When I started the blog, my country was in a difficult position. Some of the people focused so badly on the saffron of our flag while the other focused on the green. Mind you, the meanings of these colours have changed in contemporary India. They are no longer the same as what they were meant to be.
I knew what this blog is going to be about. I also knew that somebody must think of the people, of the colour white - the second colour of the flag - the colour of peace and harmony. This summarizes all my efforts in my writings.
Would you like to say something to your readers?
If you are my reader, you are already very lucky. This is not because you read ME but because you love reading so passionately that it got you here, to the bottom of these questions.
I will suggest you one thing. Read more! Read books of all types. Wander into uncharted territories. If you love cricket, read more about the history of Ludo. If you love cooking, read more about the theory of relativity. At the end of your working life, what will matter the most is your experience. What stories are you going to tell to your kids and grandkids? What sort of dreams are you going to have?
I will suggest you another thing. Write! Write, especially when you think you cannot do that. Read, and then write. Write as much as you can. Condemning Pakistan and China all the time is okay but you can help India more by reading and writing. That is the greatest national service. Believe me.
That's it, folks!
You can also email Prakhar Pandey directly at the given email address:
prakhar102030@gmail.com
PS: Prakhar also says that he is looking for other similar-minded writers. If you wish to write for the blog, you can contact him.
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