Hello Mutineers. Long time no chat. 😉

But before the sentimentality, some important business – the last ever San Francisco Bay Area Meetup is tomorrow

• Where: UPDATED LOCATION: The Liberties in the Mission/Dolores area — 998 Guerrero & 22nd (we outgrew Udupi Palace)
• When: UPDATED TIME – 2:30 – 6:30pm — we’ll be lounging for a while so feel free to drop in, share a pint or 2 and listen/tell stories
• Who: friends past & present, old bloggers, current bloggers, guest bloggers, grizzled comments flame war vets, lurkers, and riff raff of various stripes

The Facebook event is here.

So what can I say that hasn’t already been (quite ably) said by my fellow bloggers?

Quite a bit, I think.

Back when the blogosphere was young, and desi blogger ranks were very slim (my first personal blogpost was Sept 29, 2002 & first SM post was August 2004 – an internet lifetime ago), a few kids had an idea for a group blog covering the news & commentary that was less covered.

The medium was new, the excitement was high, and our target market was ripe for a new vehicle for expression, debate, and community. And thus the Sepia Mutiny was born & acquired a life of its own. Over the years, I’ve met perhaps 100 new people through the blog and it’s cemented at least a few, new, lifelong friendships & acquaintances. I know several of my facebook friends better by their handles than by their official Facebook names. And common ground forged by the blog has been responsible for more than few random run-ins literally across the world (one anecdote – while on a biz trip in London, a particularly astute, regular reader I’d never met before saw me crossing the street & shouted out).

As Abhi noted, in the almost 10 yrs since SM was born, a lot has changed. Whereas back in the day we’d post an shout-out if a Desi had so much as a speaking line on TV, now it’s common to find them in regular roles in top 10 sitcoms. Is a Desi romantic lead far behind? Perhaps in another 10 yrs. Or maybe not.

The angst ridden ABCD’s of >10 yrs ago have given way to a new generation of Desi’s who merit the “C” less and less with each passing year. An interesting 4 yr snapshot of that fast forward evolution can be seen comparing 2003’s Where’s the Party, Yaar to 2007’s Loins of Punjab.

The broader blog universe has changed dramatically as well. And, of course, so have we the mutineers – a term we judiciously use to cover both the bloggers & the readers. As 20somethings, most of us were single, had all the time in the world (though we didn’t fully appreciate it at the time) and were often just establishing our careers –> factors which contributed individually & in their own unique ways to our “drive” to blog & comment. As 20s gave way to 30s (and in my case, late 30s, gulp), life has a way of reminding you who’s in charge (my wife?).

For me personally, my ~400 Sepia Mutiny posts are here.  And, over at my (languishing) personal blog, I’ve compiled lists of some of my favorite ~40 or so posts over the years – 1, 2, 3, and 4.  While I tended to cover econ & current events, many of those favorites focused on “hidden history” — Did you know that the Nazi’s promised Stalin full reign over India if he’d help defeat the Brits?  Or how seemingly simple, but utterly economically profound issues like “Title” to land get established?   And on a completely different note, how can we ignore the phenomena that’s Finnish Bhangra?

Hitting some of those links, reading the entries, and in particular, reading the comments provide a pretty fascinating (and occasionally embarrassing) trip down memory lane. How vehemently we argued, how sure of ourselves we were, and what a product of our times we turned out to be. How much more we know now and how much has been forgotten. And we’re not even that old yet 😉

So, thanks for the fun, camaraderie, memories, and vibrant discussion – and I’m sure we’ll cross paths as we witness & conquer new domains. And if you’re in/near the San Francisco area tomorrow afternoon, swing by the Liberties & share a drink as we toast new adventures.