Welcome to the P Spot!
The P Spot began as a collaborative blog experiment on my website some years ago, when it was called Arrey Baba. Which is why if you look at the archives, you will see posts by different sets of people. In April 2008, we decided to change the format. Things had slowed down, many of this blog's former contributors had their own blogs, and I wasn't posting all that much either. Post the re-naming, P Spot serves as my personal online adda, and I promise to be more regular. :-)
What is an adda? An adda is a hangout - a social refuge, where in the company of friends, over innumerable cups of chai or coffee, or something stronger, you can relax and shoot the breeze. An adda can be a literary salon, or a little hole in the wall dive, where the alcohol is cheap, and you can fall drunk on the dirty rickety tables. Or it could be Studio 54. An adda is also a place where you make new friends, or quibble with the ones you already have. My website Freshlimesoda.com was certainly an online adda - in the early days of the internet. My friend Aswin (who has had as nomadic an existence as I have in the past few years - Bangalore, Athens, GA, Boston, Madison, Buffalo, Bombay, Michigan...) has writen a book on the digital addas that Bollywood fans inhabit. I remember going for Anuradha Tandan's 'Adda' evenings many years ago in Bombay. Anuradha, a film maker, would organize monthly gatherings at the Goa Portuguesa party room, where she would personally invite an eclectic bunch of people - radio jockeys, mime artists, painters, investment bankers, musicians, poets... and journalists like me. At first, I was really intimidated at attending these evenings - but soon I realized that this was completely unnecessary. An adda is place where people go to unwind - no expecations, no pressure to be anything except your own imperfect self - and I began to go with the flow, and really enjoyed those interactions. Over the past year in Bombay, I've helped organize similar kind of Lounges (with Verve magazine) in Bombay, and its the same chilled out vibe.
I'd like this blog to capture the spirit of the adda. A place where I can express myself, argue or ponder over things that I'm thinking about - both big and small. There will be a lot of media ramblings, of course. The journey of my first book, as it takes a life of its own, and perhaps, thoughts for the next project. And a whole lot of randomness. So welcome, and do come back. The P Spot is always open, and there's always an extra cup of chai.