Something To Write (Home) About

Yay! It's a blog entry! And I have a perfectly good explanation for the lack of blog entries and the title of this blog. I was just randomly browsing the internet about two weeks back (Don't we all?) and I happened to stumble upon an article about blogging. Being a voracious blog reader and a former voracious blogger, I decided to read it. Now, the article was very blah, but there was a comment left by a reader that I thought made a lot of sense. It said that by blogging only when you NEED to express yourself, you not only have better creative satisfaction, but also a high quality blog entry. So what if the entries infrequent? I believe that instead of coming online every week and posting a one-sentence blog about how I'll post a longer entry soon or one about college (I guess everyone who's read this blog has figured out that there are tests/exams regularly at college, so I hope to write less about those!) I can write about something that has impacted me in some way. I hope this improves your Quality of Experience of reading my blog. (That Fancy Phrase is courtesy the Director of my college. He loves saying it!)
So here I am. With something to write about. Really! And as stupid and insignificant as a little 4' X 8' article might seem, it actually made my day. (Week, rather!) And it has inspired this blog entry.
Everyone who remotely knows me knows that I adore Rafael Nadal. And I've said a million times before that I like him WAY better than Roger Federer. I don't really have anything against Federer, really, but he seems very... unreal, somehow. Nadal, on the other hand, I find plain adorable, and the article a couple of days ago just reaffirmed that. The article just talked about Rafa's life and career, but there were these little things that made me feel really nice when I read them. For one, he still lives in his childhood home in Manacor, Mallorca, with his whole extended family. Also, he keeps out of the limelight as far as possible, and has a girlfriend who I never knew about (and I know a lot about him) which leads me to think he likes his privacy. And above all, I find that the word most reporters use to describe him is simple, and I love that about him. Which got me thinking.
I think it's Rafa's entire image which I love. He's sweet, simple and a child at heart. Which, rather than his tennis playing ability, is probably what appeals to me. (Seriously! Remember this article comes close on the heels of a loss to the Fed himself!) I'm sure Federer is the perfect Gentleman, someone you must admire, respect, revere, and sometimes just gawk at his shots... But (tennis playing ability aside) is he the kind of person one of us would like to befriend? And then I look at Nadal. Who isn't even close to being as talented or as dignified or polished as Federer, but somehow has a way of making you smile, of brightening up your day when you see him being interviewed. (And of keeping you guessing when he's playing!) I'm sure many people who are reading this don't agree with my assessment of the two people, but it doesn't bother me. To put it in a nutshell (if crudely) Feddy's the sorta person I feel like applauding for continuously, but hearing Nadal speak makes me want to jump into the TV screen and give him a huge hug. It's probably what the two of them represent that makes me like Nadal much more than Feddy. Heck, I don't know either of them! This blog entry has kinda been a huge analogy, but what (I think) I'm trying to say is that I always find myself enjoying the company of someone who's human rather than perfect, and it's people who belong to the former category who warm my heart.
P.S. Read the article. It can be found in the Bangalore edition (and all other editions, I presume) of the Times of India, dated 22nd July, 2007 (i.e., this Tuesday). My copy as been cut and preserved for posterity!