The beauty of the Internet is that we all get to speak

Ramasubramanian Sundararajan

My name is Ramasubramanian Sundararajan – I generally go by Ramsu. I write a  movie blog called 24 frames per second – the URL is http://celluloidrant.wordpress.com. I am 33 years old and live in Mumbai.

I hold a doctorate in Information Systems and work as a researcher in the data mining area. I have a few hobbies that receive carrying amounts of time and attention – quizzing, reading, creative writing (mostly short stories), singing, listening to music, watching movies of all sorts… and now blogging, which accounts for a good bit of my time these days.

Interview

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

• A: I started blogging sometime in 2005. The movie blog, which is what I now update regularly, got going about a year later. I’ve been a movie buff for ages now, and talking about it is something I love almost as much. One day, a friend of mine who had been at the receiving end of one of my rants (I think it was about Return of the Jedi and how it ought to be renamed Revenge of the Killer Mutant Teddy Bears) suggested that I spare him and put it all on a blog, so that my friends could have the singular pleasure of avoiding it altogether.

Q: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

• A: I write mostly about the movies, with the occasional side order of books, music and other matters of comparable inconsequence. I’ve had a couple of friends chip in with the occasional guest post, but otherwise it’s just me.

Q.: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

• A: To me, it’s pretty important. At a fundamental level, I think a blog is a medium for monologues, but if all that mattered was to express an opinion and not care about what people had to say in response, then one might as well just hold that opinion inside or keep a diary. A number of readers have their own blogs, and reading their work is also part of it.

Q: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors geographical status etc.?

• A: Isn’t this one akin to asking a woman her age? It varies according to my posting frequency, actually. But it’s never gone past 150 hits a day, so I guess it’s pretty small time compared to many others I can think of.

Q: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

• A: For me, it’s a postscript to the movie-watching experience. I don’t see it as a commercial enterprise, and I probably never will. My fear is that, if it ever gets to the point where money is involved, it might become a bit of a chore.

Q: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

A: There’s a whole bunch of them. But the ones I religiously visit on a regular basis are:

• Indiequill
• Doing Jalsa and Showing Jilpa
• Memsaab Story
• …so they dance
• Beth loves Bollywood
• Blogical Conclusion
• Banno, Dhanno and Teja

Q: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

• A: Make good use of the drafts section. Sometimes blog posts don’t come fully formed, and all you have is a paragraph or two, or maybe just a couple of sentences that summarize what you want to say. Jot it down while you still remember, and revisit it later to see if you can make a full-fledged post out of it.

Q: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

• A: In a way, yes. It’s more like a safety valve. I am a bit obsessive when it comes to thinking and talking about the movies. If I didn’t have this outlet, I’d probably bore my wife and friends to death!

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

• A: Mount Kilimanjaro, Kaziranga National Park and the Louvre Museum. I’d like to take my wife and a few friends.

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

• A: Given the content of my blog, this is sort of a Duh! Question. The list of favourite ones is too long. But the biggest favourites by far are a pair of movies by Richard Linklater – Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

Q: How has blogging helped you other than money?

• A: It hasn’t helped me with money so that’s out anyway. It has, however, brought me in touch with an online community of people whose views and words I tremendously admire. More than expressing my own opinions, it has been the habit of reading other’s opinions that has been the most enriching part of the experience.

Q: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

• A: My paunch, probably! Then again, I did the hard work in getting it, so I’m not entirely sure I wanna let it go.

Q: What is your deepest fear?

• A: That I am powerful beyond all measure. (For details, please contact Marianne Williamson)

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

• A: It’s a toss-up between Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa and Mani Rathnam.

Q: Which is your favorite television show? Favorite songs?

• A: Whatever I’ve seen of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, I’ve absolutely loved. House is another favourite. I used to love some of the old shows on DD, like Katha Sagar and Fauji. Favourite songs: .Way too many to name.

Q: How much money do you have in your purse/wallet right now (including change)?

• A: Including the credit limit on my ATM card?

Q: What is your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?

• A: Vaththal kozhambu and paruppu usili. Anything involving Arbi is a no-no.

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

• A: Depends on how transparent the technology is, or how well we know is, I guess. There’s a heck of a lot of technology that goes into making computers and the Internet what they are, but it’s not like we obsess about networking protocols and applied graph algorithms and solid state devices when we sit down to write a blog post. On the flip side, I find that when I pick up my wife’s phone to make a phone call, it takes me five minutes to figure out how to open the phone book feature!

Q: What do you think of “blogging is the next BIG thing”?

• A: I thought we were past that stage and going ga-ga over Twitter these days?

Q: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

• A: The beauty of the Internet is that we all get to speak, all at once. Find out what fires you up and blog about it. You’ll be surprised at how many people actually listen after a while.