Almost a year, I have written, and the constant reader has read. Absolutely delighted, I have written much more, and much more, the constant reader has read. Sometimes, I forced it down the reader's throat, ostentatiously marking my blog updates in orkut (being the exhibitionist that I am). And yet, the constant reader has stuck by me, for most times, and has played friend, critic,lover, sympathizer and anonymous stalker with equal zeal.

The other day, a friend questioned my declaration of a comment as "arguably one of the best" in my blog. And I hastened to point out my diplomatic usage of the words, "ONE" of the best". But it got me thinking, and I realized, that credit has long been due to all you lovely folks who keep coming back to the world of "only ficus".

This now, is an attempt, to list a few of those folks who keep reading, and who give me enough food for thought to write the next line, the next update and the next post. I have tried to encompass a list here, but if I left anyone out, the error is all mine :D.

It begins with Shruthi(chinks/Lizzie Borden). Regular reader and commentor, she is also the person who introduced me to the world of Blogging. And on those early days, when nobody knew the existence of this blog, she kept me rolling with her inspirational lines. Her comments did not always follow protocol, and were subject to complete randomness, but it was her interest and effort that jump started my blog, and in all probablity, renewed my interests in writing.

And then there were the next wave of readers, like Salman, Rahul and Chaitu (Maddy), who left their little quotes and lines, and propelled me towards believing that the stuff I wrote was readable. That was, and has been my biggest challenge and fear. That everything I write should be very readable.

Next came Akhtar, with his laconic (and sometimes, curt) one-liners, that never failed to make me feel good. If an IIM graduate could enjoy it, there was no doubt. My work definitely, had a bit of intellectual pull in it that attracted him!


And suddenly, when I was least expecting it, came this:


"hey..! i stumbled across ure blog, a case of serendipity u mite say..(u seem to like the notion of love a lot, but i hope u didnt like the tearjerker of a horrendous movie of the same name..!) and i think u write really really well..reading ure posts, one thing that i've imbibed is that i now have a new found respect for stephan king, who my left brain had typecast as a morbid writer who derived sadistic pleasure out of scaring the living daylights out of ppl..! anyways looking at ure style i think u might like a bit of jjaser forde books too..give them a shot if u can.. and thanks for those woody allen classics..! one of my personal woody allen faves, another one abt 'god' he says.. " If u want to make god laugh,tell him your future plans"! keep writing..!

ps: btw jus to break ice, i'm shakti, one of veera's good friends."


Shakti Swaminathan, whom I met through my blog went on to become one my best friends in a short span of time.We shared movies, philosophy, and comments on each other's blogs.Indeed, writing is for writing, and not for getting famous, or making friends. But I cannot deny that I met the best people in my life through my blog. And that, by itself, has been worth everything!

Then came the second wave of people I met through blogosphere. Aditi (daydreamingoracle), Proma and Atashi among them. I got hooked on to some of their writings too. And their comments always inspired me to think a lot more. Aditi, for instance has this devilish side to her, and she comes up with the most vague and unthought of angle to my story. I chat with these folks now, and probably am building a bond that will last a lifetime!

And then there were the other readers.

Like a certain Ram, an Arun Nandi, and Jayashree, whom I hope will be the new wave readers, and whom I hope to keep interested in the rest of my writing.

Also to credit, are Jasleen and Tajpreet, who are usually my first readers ( apart from Shak, ofcourse), who give their valuable comments in first person. (My usual belief is, if they can understand it... anyone can...lol, kidding sorry sorry :D)

Other people close to my heart, like Lea, Nithya and Kunal keep making appearances and refuse to leave their valuable comments...or do it sparingly. But I know you are reading it, and that keeps me content :D. Ofcourse, Kunal tends to play the critic, and I tend to ignore :P.

Perhaps, this little attempt to thank the constant readers is an exercise in vanity. But I believe that putting this kind of a constant effort on something for the last one year (and for the first time in my life), is something to be proud of. And I would like to share this pride...

with you.