Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields which have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes, greater than the illustrious heroes.--Victor Hugo (Les Miserables)
I may come across as a totally insensitive, selfish, attention-hungry, blood-sucking vampire to many or all of you. It is only because I am one.
When I was young boy, my mama used to tell me, “Always remember this, son, it is the crying baby that gets the milk!” I have remembered that well. And milk is something I cannot do without. So I cry. As much and as loudly as I can. Which brings us to the point of this little post of mine.
I was not like this before.
I was like you. Dignified, quiet, and hardworking. Committed to myself and my brethren's welfare. I believed 'to earn one's daily bread by the sweat on one's brow' was the right thing to do. I toiled without complaints, believed in the kindness of my brothers and sisters, and waited for the good to come knocking on my door.
Day after day, night after night, I waited. Just like you do. But nothing happened. The world moved on. Without as much as a 'thank you.' If it was a good night's sleep that was to be my only blessing, that didn't come through either. The tin roofs over my head leaked in the rains, and in the summers, were too hot to sleep under. If my body was betrayed, my soul didn't feel too blessed either.
I was invisible to the world then. As you are today. To be silent was to be ignored, sidelined, walked-over, mistreated, and forgotten. To be silent was to cease existing. To be silent was to accept the ignominy of being considered being dead while still living.
That is when I realised my mama was right. And I decided never to be silent again. Now I cry. And I get fed. More than my fair share. Everything is wonderful in my world now. But then I see you. I see you do exactly what I used to do once upon a time. Believe in the kindness of your brothers and sisters. Toil till the sun goes down and wonder why nobody invites you home when you have to sleep under your leaking tin roof. Maybe your mama didn't tell you the secret that mine did. You got to cry if you need milk.
So cry.
This world is as much your's as it is mine. Do not let any one tell you otherwise. You have toiled for the whole year here and what have you got to show for it? Nothing? The hours at the keyboard, pouring out your heart and mind... the hours spent on other bloggers space trying to understand, the commitment, the sincerity, the earnest comments you left behind, and at the end of it all...
Inhale deeply, fill your lungs with as much ammunition as you can, and cry. Let the world see what you have got. Don't wait for other's kindness or pity. Pry it out of the miserly-fists that deny you your rights.
What is your's by right is not to be accepted as alms. It is not for someone to hand it over. It is your's to take. There's pride in that conquest. Do not hesitate. Do not wait. Come forward and say, “This is me. And this is mine.”
Even if it is a mention as a 'Blogging Individual' in the year that is about to pass us by. Forever.
I salute you, my invisible friends. Let's not remain invisible anymore. For history is not made of silence.
Close
Mojo *clearing his throat*
bilingual, that was wonderful .... [muttering under his breath] whatever it was that you said... sure did give me enough time to think up of corn ball pleasantries and what not to say after you're done..
Thank you for coming over, and being such a wonderful guest. I have no words to describe the strange little feelings I have within me right now. You are a true believer, if I ever saw one. Thank you once again.
Things couldn't get better today. [Especially when I am being shat on from all around...]
Good morning to ye all who pass this way today! This year has almost passed us by, bringing in its wake all its glorious perversions and less than subtle hate for each other. But, do not lose hope. The year ahead is going to be total chaos.
But today...
today Mankind has a new meaning for us....
We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore.
We will be united in our common interests.
Perhaps its fate that today is the 29th of Dec., just 6 months and 17 days away from our Indepedance day. And today we will once again rededicate ourselves to fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution -- but from stupidity of the highest order.
We' will fight for our right to live, to exist.
And should we win the day, today will no longer be known as an 29th of Dec, but as the day when the blogging world declared in one voice:
"We will not go quietly into the night!
We will not vanish without a fight!
We're going to live on!
We're going to survive!"
Today, we celebrate our right to fight!
Amen!
BigMojo *wondering* did I say everything they taught me last night?
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Hey Big,
Your philosophy may work or may be required in certain areas but not completely true with respect to blogging. That was my feedback.
What do you mean by not to be seen at all? Naturally as you mentioned in one of your blogger of the year posts the old members have an edge as they have big network. I do agree that the newbies have a tight competition to make the list. But if you want the crown you need to work for it. My point was you need not scream to be heard but a catchy title will catch ones attention. They will come and read it and may be vote for it.
How did you know about me? The title of one of my posts caught your attention. Thats how a newbie is seen. If a blogger is missed it means that they are not good enough what ever the standards are right?About gaining number of votes, slow and steady wins the race. Be patient, write well, you will get enough attention. You may end up falling down and getting hurt trying to run to the finish line faster than you can.
Once again it is my opinion. As others said every body has their own style.
Madhuri
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Hullo BM
Your memory does not serve you right.
We had an encounter when you saw crap on my face thanks to a gentleman musician's propensity to throw it up after every second note.
Either way flogging is lost game. Love has the power to reform and educate.
Sceptic
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BM,
This is excellent article. Loved it.
Many times it is true .People are being ignored, sidelined, walked-over, mistreated, and forgotten because they are silent.
Yes BM, we must assert ourselves. When I read these sort of posts I do feel inspired but in reality I can not assert myself in any way. Hence I understand what you are saying and can appreciate it too.
I join you in saluting the invisible great friends.
Indu
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PC, silence is not an option. It never was about attention seeking megalomania. :-)) good to see you here. :-))
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reflector,
you will never ever have to worry about not having patients... i see that you are adept at creating ones by the second..he..he..
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Bilingual enters looks over his shoulder at the invisible people and waves, doffs his hat and bows exceedingly low turns and nods to Mojo and the two blow a joint kiss to the invisible and invaluable assembled ( reminiscent of The Dating Game Kiss)... Naturally the crowd feigns contact and steps collectively back laughing. Moho looks puzzled as Bilingual is cursing almost under his breath as his hand pulls the crumpled speech out of his jacket pocket the cameras catch the yellow legal pad neatly folded and now stained with orange Trident Sugar Free Fruit Punch chewing gum. Palms up shaking his head he reminds everyone he is from Chicago and forgot about the Indian heat and humidity and begins his off the cuff comments.......
"Mojo thank you for including me and can you please keep it down Go rub Keshev' s feet or smile say nothing and keep that Namaste in front of your mouth.. Thanks. Ladies you are never invisible to me with your colorful Blogs and vibrant subject matter. From where I stand I see you all and not one of you is taken for granted. You are the most important part of our family just as you are the most important part of any family. Many are spouting off in tribute to a few of you and I must say to me you are all important. What this Blogger of the Year award has done is make us all appreciate the fact that this family does not have a King..nor just one Queen, you are all Kings and Queens and you are all contributors...(except one I can think of) Contributors are balanced and whereas a user and abuser is not. I have heard the argument that we ( other than the one) are mutual backslappers and therefore lack balance.... To that my friends I say BUNK ! Here is why....we don't comment on everything we read..... do we? If it is poor we might make a suggestion in a note rather than in public.. That is the tactful way to give harsh criticism... Not cursing, swearing or insulting authors... Absolutely discuss and even attack the subject mater or content but to attack another member of the community is counterproductive.
Each and everyone of us (men included) has something to offer, perhaps it comes across with less than perfect grammar, or a predictable climax. Possibly the spelling or punctuation is lacking. Most here are not professionals most write or read because they are apart of the community and enjoy contributing. I applaud everyone ( yeah well except one) I am thrilled to be a part of the community here. I have seen tremendous growth in many many Bloggers and writers here. The seasoned Bloggers don't worry about if they are number two, twenty or two hundred they write or respond or participate in groups because this is their home, and indeed it is our home.
I suggest we men do what we men do best and care and protect our home, If you see injustice or a personal attack particularly aimed at our women Speak up and do your community duty. You can be glib (remember when you are pointing a finger three are aimed back at you) you can be curt ( You are pathetic) or measured ( What would you pick on her when you are such a BIG target yourself? Etc... For those of thicker skin and the one hand clapping makes no noise opinion let me say this: When personal attacks take the form of humor some get hurt..... All of our women we should cherish Gentlemen, and as a community it is our responsibility to provide a safe abuse free environment for our women to the best of our ability. Absolutely many of the women her are quite capable of taking it as well as dishing it out... But it is wrong that they should have to, very wrong. Just as in real life if a woman is acting unladylike and attacking a man .. the man walks away or if he is stupid enough to stay.. he must turn the other cheek. Yet when a man attacks a woman in real life gentlemen do not tolerate that.. If it is mano a mano..well boys will be boys.... But the fact is that any man or women that is abusive repeatedly should be shunned and not encouraged. Encouraging abuse is counterproductive to our community.
I always believe one should lead by example, I will be very interested to see how our leader "handles" the abuse thrown by his great pal at one of his choices for the top women..... Does he defend the honor of his guest? ( who is also one of his honorees) Or does he say nothing? as we know inaction is an action in itself. Does he blow the whistle and enlist the help of the abuse department? Or does he delete it himself..... Being the top ranked Blogger is not going to be easy today...
I did not vote for a top Blogger as I think it is the wrong message to send.. rating Bloggers too is a poor message.... For me each and all but one are contributors here, and I am proud to be a part of this community....."
>>>> Namaste and grin to the crowd<<<<<<
" OK Mojo wake up your on".........
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I know that it is not my place to comment on something personal like this, but i must may that i have to disagree...
I agree that history is made and 'written' by individuals...
History can be made by attention craving megalomaniacs or by silent dignified individuals...How many know of Trevor Baylis? There must be thousand others like him...I was just reading about an IITan who works with children in poor urban settlements. I worked with both silent dignified types and attention mongers and i must say, the silent dignified types have inspired me and i respect them.
For some reason I guess I will respect only the silent dignified types...But then again it is an individual opinion which really doesnt count. Everybody knows best what he/she shoud do with thier lives....
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BTW..I dont remember making any claims
....but as you say I should claim...for my place in blog history...well..well...well....either one agrees with you or you doubt...what BIG Mojo...and what is personality....never heard the word before...
And again...sometimes hear the silence of history...if you think history is about noise....then take another look...the silences will deafen you..
I had to write after all you were doubting what ever it was that I had claimed...so trying to reclaim my claim and vice versa.....
reflector
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sceptic, guess you grace these pages for the first time. Good to see you. And that is my question exactly, 'can one flog a donkey into a horse?" or let me say this, 'can flogging turn a horse into a donkey?' we should think about it. :-))
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