Blogs have won.
Even an MSM outlet acknowledges it. The story asks, "Does the mainstream not have a sense of humour?", and gets this zinger from Anirudh Bhattacharya:
“It’s unfair to say there is no humour in the mainstream media in India. But most of it is unintentional. Our purpose is to provide intentional humour.”
The linked article -- by Shreevatsa Nevatia in Outlook -- covers all the major figures (not just by name, but also with links, which is very, very nice) in desi blogdom specializing in humour: Anand Ramachandran, Faking News and Ramesh Srivats and others, whose output is prolific as well as consistently funny. Appropriately enough, Krish Ashok gets identified (by the "bratpack") as one of the "smartest writers."
As someone with an interest in internet history, I have one quibble: the article doesn't mention one of the pioneers and trend-setters: The Curious Gawker, whose Renegade of Junk and A Goose Egg have archives going back to 2005. His blogging has slowed down, though; may be because of his Twitter addiction?
Here's a list of Gawker's Top 5 posts:
Letter from one religious fanatic to another (May 2006)
Bangalore to change name to reflect state of its infrastructure (December 2005)
The incompetence of the Indian government (July 2006, about the infamous "Blogspot Block")
Patent application approved, Indian men to have exclusive rights over Indian women (July 2007)
What happened to the gentle spammers? (March 2006)
Bonus Link: Gawker's "lesson for all you budding bloggers"? It's okay to write crap.
Wow, thanks, Abi. Deeply appreciate the post.
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