Requiem

It is with immense sadness that I am here to make an announcement.

I am shutting down my blog.

Pause for dramatic effect. Gasp of horror from the audience.

Nope, its not a joke. I realise that I don't have enough time to write on all my blogs, so I'm downsizing.

And yes, the sharper knives in the drawer would have spotted the glimmer of light here - not all the blogs are to be shut down, only one.

Nope, not this one. I admit I haven't been updating it for ages, but thats an entirely temporary phenomenon. I should be back to blogging here starting December.

And no, its not the comics blog either - that one is very dear to my heart, and no matter how much you insist on avoiding it, I will NEVER, NEVER shut it down. It will be reformatted sometime soon, once I find time, but remain it shall.

As for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a whole bunch of bloggers with keen eyes, ears, and a sense of humour; have joined, so my leaving or not is immaterial (I'm not anyway, so thats not it).

No, the blog that is shutting down is this one.

Huh?

No, thats not a mistake. The blog I pointed to has, in fact, been written by me since its inception - something that will not continue.

No, I didn't ghost write for Vishnupriya. The truth is slightly more mundane.

There is no Vishnupriya Roychoudhury. There never has been.

So, not only is this an elegy, it is also something of a confessional.

Vishnupriya Roychoudhury is entirely a figment of a very colourful imagination. She was brought to electronic life by a slightly diseased mind with a tiny bit of a god complex.

Mine.

She was created as a prank. In order to make the prank work better, she was fleshed out. She had a personality, a history, friends and a family. She had interests and opinions. Most importantly, she had three things:
a) an email id
b) an Orkut account
c) a blog

By the time, I was through, she was absolutely bullet-proof. As far as many people were concerned, she truly existed.

The prank ran its course. All of a sudden, she had no purpose. She should have died there and then. But I had grown attached to her, like an artist to his creation. I chose to let her live.

For two more years, she continued to blog. She expressed her opinions, got into fights, made friends with other bloggers and was even attacked by the anti-femblogger brigade.

Now finally, her time is up.

To those who know both me and her, you will probably be extremely annoyed. Angered even. To them, I express my apologies. It was not my intention to deceive. At that point, she had acquired a life of her own. I couldn't bring myself to kill her off.

To those who read her blog and enjoyed it, I thank you on her behalf. Her opinions were entirely her own and I may or may not subscribe to some or all of them.

To those who have known all along, thank you. A special nod to the only one who figured out, and continued to stay mum - well mostly.

I did learn a few things from this exercise - the virtual world treats men and women very differently. Perhaps I am now a little more sensitive to the unique problems that women have to face, than I was before. Perhaps at some point I will write a series of posts on my experiences as a female blogger.

That is pretty much all.

Rest in peace, Vishnupriya Roychoudhury (2003-2006). You will be missed.