The hundredth

 

I started the blog journey very, very hesitantly. In fact, I didn’t even share my first few blogs with anyone for fear of negative feedback and far worse, complete indifference. When I tentatively shared my first blog, I was overwhelmed by the response. I also found I had a few things to say and it has now gone on to this, the hundredth blog post in a span of three and a half years (the first blog was on April 23, 2022). 

It's a time for reflection. I checked with Grok and Gemini. 

Grok: 

Overall, the blog is quite good if you enjoy insider perspectives on Indian socio-political issues delivered with humor and critique. It's refreshing and grounded, especially coming from someone with Dash's credentials and experience. However, it's not a mainstream or highly influential blog—more of a thoughtful, contrarian voice for those interested in Indian public affairs, policing, or satirical takes on news. If that aligns with your interests, it's worth checking out! 

Gemini: 

The blog "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!" by Bibhuti Dash is generally regarded as engaging, entertaining, and insightful, particularly for its unique perspective on real-life experiences in the Indian Police Service (IPS). The blog posts were popular enough to be compiled into a book titled Police in Blunderland.  

Reviews and comments highlight several positive aspects: 

·       Compelling Content: The blog is noted for its interesting plots and characters, drawing from Dash's decades of experience as a police officer. One particularly popular series within the blog covered the sensational Purulia Arms drop case, a topic where Dash had direct involvement in solving the incident. 

·       Engaging Style: Readers appreciate the author's pithy, "tongue in cheek" writing style, which effectively blends the serious nature of police work with humor and observations on the absurdities of daily life. 

·       Human Element: The blog is praised for presenting the human side of policing in India, challenging the perception that the profession is entirely opaque, stern, and brutal. The articles offer the perspectives of an observer, even when narrated in the first person, adding a refreshing dimension to the stories. 

·       Thought-Provoking: The stories are described as thought-provoking, touching on various human emotions and themes like karma, greed, sadness, and anger.  

Overall, the blog is considered a worthwhile read, especially for those interested in true crime, police procedural stories, or simply well-written, real-life anecdotes with a unique voice.  

Obviously Grok and AI are not necessarily accurate but the above made my heart feel good. 

The following have been the top 5 posts by page views: 

1.     “It’s raining guns and bullets:"  https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/07/its-raining-guns-and-bullets.html

2.     Proud to be a Hindu: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/05/proud-to-be-hindu.html 

3.     The Talwar amendment: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-talwar-amendment.html 

4.     Be (very) careful what you wish for: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/08/be-very-careful-what-you-wish-for.html 

5.     HEWK: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/10/hewk.html 

My personal favourite 5: 

1.   What the cop and the bribe did next: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/06/what-cop-and-bribe-did-next.html 

2.     Being Delulu: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2025/05/being-delulu.html 

3.     I’m always there: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2022/06/im-always-there.html 

4.     Why I quit my IIM WhatsApp group: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2024/12/why-i-quit-my-iim-whatsapp-group.html 

5.     Gratefully yours, gracefully yours: https://b-b-dash.blogspot.com/2023/02/gratefully-yours-gracefully-yours.html 

The 100^th has also led me to think as to why I write. 

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to write. Never had the confidence to put things into words though. While interacting with people, I’m severely tongue-tied, sometimes coming across as arrogant, sometimes as depressing and so on. So, writing was an outlet. In school and in college, this took the form of writing long letters to friends and relatives. 

Later, in undergrad college, I churned out despicable stuff and was suitably (internally) chastened when I saw the great output of batchmates in the college rag. It was IIM Bangalore where the very supportive group of classmates encouraged and gave instant feedback. That was also where I met Gunds (Prof. Rajendra Nargundkar, currently Pro Vice Chancellor of a University) who was miles ahead of me in writing and humour but decided to partner with me for all the literary efforts of the batch. 

One good side effect of writing has been that I think I have managed to avoid one curse of old age. Which is, inflicting unwanted stories and repugnant wisdom on unsuspecting people who are least interested. This way, the urge to burst forth with said wisdom (or lack of it) gets fulfilled and anyone has the choice to pay heed or not, at a time of his/ her own choosing. However, writing does help me to minimise the distance between thought and language, for myself. 

As the doctor in 'Doctor Who' TV series said, “Well, you’ll remember me a little. I’ll be a story in your head. But that’s okay: we’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”