A milestone for this blog - half a million hits

By Dilip -
Dear Readers,
The first week of June 2016, marks just short of 56 months since I began blogging. This is to mark half a million hits since October 2011. And to thank you for reading. As you know, its not a commercial blog, and my only satisfaction is to see it being used and appreciated. I have also used it as an archive for talks and lectures. I'm aware it has readers in countries all over the world - it's great to be able to reach them. Salaam to all of you! 

 Here's a brief survey (all titles listed below are links): 

The first post was on Oct 17, 2011, and included these:
On the public commodification of privacy
Jayeeta Sharma's long awaited monograph on Assam, Empire's Garden

500,000+ hits in 56 months marks an average of about 9000 per month, and an average of 90+ posts per month (total posts 5089). Over the years the number of monthly hits increased, and in the past few months has sometimes gone over 18,000. The highest number of posts in a month (179) was in September 2013. The largest number of visits for any single post was for my article on the JNU controversy: What is to be Undone - 8888 as on June 7.

The 6 top posts on Gandhi attracted over 16,560 hits:
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969) - 4635 hits

These labels are links to documents and accounts of historical significance
Archive of historical documents
Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan

Among my articles, these were some other popular ones:
The Abolition of truth - 2971 hits
Shekhar Gupta - National Interest: Secularism is dead! - 2601 hits (this was written just before the 2014 election. Readers might like to re-visit this to see if my argument makes sense in light of subsequent developments)
The Broken Middle (on the 30th anniversary of 1984) - 2519 hits
The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar - 2147 hits
The law of killing: a brief history of Indian fascism - 1881 hits
On 'revolution': Closing the Circle (Frontier Vol 45, No. 7) - 1343 hits
A Hard Rain Falling (on private armies and political violence in India - EPW 2012 - 1139 hits

 And..
The Citizens Appeal to Aam Aadmi Party Leadership  in March 2015 attracted 3319 hits
The Almond Trees, by Albert Camus was the most-read post under 'philosophy' (1685 hits)

Alerts to threats in 2013 Europe from John Cleese was the most popular bit of satire with 1774 hits. He's damn funny; as is another John: Funny and very scary - John Oliver on Nuclear Weapons (between US nukes and Donald, that should truly put an end to history). I like this one too: History of the middle finger / Importance of the horse's ass (its particularly relevant to the current US election scenario). As for the motherland, here's some doggerel inspired by our great leaders: Rajnath denies rift in BJP / Lets believe everything we're told..; and some of their utterances: Barking mad

Quotes from my favourite writer: P.G. Wodehouse Quotes Guaranteed To Make Your Day
and an extract that reminds us of the continuing importance of George Orwell: Ignorance is Strength - Freedom is Slavery - War is Peace  (there's a Orwellian reminders label too)

Some heartening accounts of love in troubled times: 
REMEMBER THIS LADY - In memory of Irena Sendler
A grandmother's 36-year hunt for the child stolen by the Argentinian junta
An aged man from Atali reduces entire village to tears
Apoorvanand: गांधीजी का आखरी महीना - Talk on Gandhiji's Last Month
Daya Ram Gidumal of Sindh — a silent servant, a silent sufferer. A good man
'They call him an infidel': Abdul Sattar Edhi - Pakistan's angel of mercy
Lenin, mum and me – my communist childhood

Daniel J. Berrigan, Defiant Priest Who Preached Pacifism, Dies at 94

 The unsung hero to whom we probably all owe our lives:
Vasili Arkhipov, the man who stopped nuclear war
and historic colour photos of Russia in 1917


 This young gent is doing his utmost for a better world: 15-Year-Old Xiuhtezcatl Roske Martinez's Inspiring Speech on Climate Crisis at the UN

Footage of the legendary Australian night parrot, a bird not seen alive for a century

These are my (personally speaking) most memorable posts:
An agnostic in Kailash
In Naxalbari, forty-eight years later
Meditation on a visit to Wagah in 1989

This was my most-read book review - 1254 hits
Superflous people - review of 'Our Moon has blood clots'

This story from Delhi university in 1988 is for those facing the brunt of hurt sentiment:
Venue for a Speech on Tamas - Chronicle of an Event That Should Never Have Happened; 
not to mention नाकोहस (National Commission of Hurt Sentiment; a fable for our times) 

Thanks once more and keep reading!
All the best
Dilip

and here are two postscripts, with accessible videos:
A Final Warning by George Orwell
When Charles Chaplin Became the Enemy

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