Me (super excited): Tadaa! I’ve just launched my blog!

You (super not-caring): The Bhelpuri Blog, huh?

Me: Yeah … The Bhelpuri Blog.

You (raining on my parade): Why ‘The Bhelpuri Blog’?

Me: Well, why not? Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

You (stomping on my enthusiasm): Uh-huh.

Me (pushing for some encouragement): I am so glad to be writing again. It’s been ages since I got to channel my creative energy

You (being the ass you are): But, what’s the thought behind ‘The Bhelpuri Blog’?

Me (getting slightly irritated): Because I am planning to put in short movie reviews, personal experiences, stories, poems, etc. It’s got a little bit of everything … like a bhelpuri!

You (trying to be extra smart and funny): So why not go in for ‘The Navratan Korma Blog’ or the ‘Caesar Salad Blog’ or the ‘Biryani Blog’. Biryani is tastier than Bhelpuri any day.

Me (losing my patience … fast): You aren’t ordering in a restaurant, you lunatic. This is a blog. It’s MY blog. And I’ve called it ‘The Bhelpuri Blog’.

You (dangerously close to being throttled by me): Still, as far as food items go, Biryani beats bhelpuri any day, especially if it’s mutton biryani. From this place called Deez Biryani near my house.

Me: I am NOT changing the name of MY blog to suit your TASTE.

You: Uh-huh. So again … why ‘The Bhelpuri Blog’?

Me: Why the … ??? Gaaahh! (Explode into a tiny million pieces)

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 Why Indeed?

To that, my dear friends, I have no convincing answer. Unless you count what one friend said, “Yea. You are like bhelpuri too!” She is in grave danger of being ‘un-friended’ if she doesn’t stop thinking of me as a delicious between-meals snack that can be enjoyed any time of the day! :-/

Coming back to the ‘Why?’ that refuses to be exorcised from this post – To that I say, “Because ……” and that should be sufficient enough for you. Now, run along and fiddle with one of your fancy gadgets.

No?

Fine. Here’s the thing. I’ve been desperately trying to launch my blog for the last year or so. I got some posts ready, hunted out some of my old poems that I’d given up for lost, and came up with a rudimentary game plan on how to get 500 followers in a couple of months. Okay, okay, 50!

There was just one tiny roadblock though. More like a 50-feet gap, really. I couldn’t come up with a decent name for the blog. Gasp!

“Phooey! And you call yourself creative?”

“Some writer this is. Can’t even think of a good name for the blog!”

“How do you expect us to take you seriously as a budding poet/amateur story writer if you can’t even pitch a decent title for your blog?”

“What? Running a little low on creative juices, are you?”

Yeah, yeah, yeah … Go on then, start sniggering! Lay it on nice and thick, guys. And make sure you spread the sarcasm evenly. There, you missed one corner of my heart! We need a little more of caustic humor to cover that patch. Why sir, it’s so kind of you to make a humble contribution. That should be quite adequate. Thank you.

Mind you, it’s not for lack of trying that I couldn’t come up with a nice enough name for the blog. Two of my closest friends will stand testament to how I would bug them at random hours with What’sApp messages containing a string of cryptic suggestions. No matter that they would respond a day or two after I’d sent the suggestion – a time duration I would spend walking on red hot coals, sticking myself with needles, and yanking my hair out one strand at a time. But they were kind enough to make up for all that suspense with their constructive feedback. And I use the term loosely.

They credited my sense of humor and pathetic taste between chuckles, chortles and guffaws at ‘MishkaGoesMoo’; agreed with me wholeheartedly (for the wrong reasons, mind you) when I suggested ‘iSpeakCrazy’; gave me a blank look for ‘WhozthatGal?’; suggested with a snigger that it might be more appropriate to replace the spoon in a ‘SpoonfulofMe’ with a ladle (I will have you know that this title was inspired by Julie Andrews’ song ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ from Mary Poppins’ – my absolute favorite) and just shook their head at ‘Curious&Curioser’, ‘CuriouslyMe’, and ‘CuriosityWilledtheCat’, wondering secretly what hot sauce I was high on.

The last suggestion, by the way – ‘CuriosityWilledtheCat –  I will credit to my sister who has been bugging me with Schrodinger’s Cat – some weird philosophy that centers around a feline specimen that has been cruelly shoved into a box and is dead and alive at the same time. Go figure.

Anyhooo, I was so concerned about the welfare of the cat that she somehow managed to slip into my subconscious mind, only to escape in the form of some ridiculous suggestions for blog titles. This one was the best of the lot. I will not bore you with what the others were.

So, here we are. Or rather, there I was. My unfulfilled creativity was nagging me, much like a wife who hasn’t been taken out shopping in 2 years. I had to do something. You know how they say desperate times call for desperate measures. I called for ‘The Bhelpuri Blog’. I went with it.

I did NOT brainstorm with my friends, did NOT seek anyone’s approval, did NOT care two hoots. I just logged on to WordPress and signed up for this name. And in a world where there are 1.6 million blogs (and growing every minute), this name was available. I didn’t have to tweak with it at all. I take that as a good sign.

Hey – it could have been worse. I could have turned to some of my other favorite snacks and you would have been tormented with ‘The Golgappa Blog’ or ‘The Pav Bhaji Blog’ or, heaven forbid, ‘The Momo Mia Blog’. Admit this is better! It kinda’ grows on you. Give it some time.

So, 1020 words of rambling later … I welcome you proudly to The Bhelpuri Blog. Stick around. I promise it will be good fun.