Thoda Ketchup Try Karo, Ketchup Hota Kaddu Bhara..

So Manikarn sparked this off. A lot of people have asked me how ‘Ketchup’ came to be my blogging nick.

When nehavish, my favourite-est blogger, and then colleague/ friend introduced me to this addiction, I didn’t know I  could mask my name. Yes, I was rather duh (notice the past tense pl). So when I finally got down to creating this blog and was prompted for a name, I had this sudden urge to remain anonymous.  I wanted to be this mystery writer…basically I didn’t have the guts to go public. Its really a different matter that what I wrote in the initial years of this blog was pretty cringe-worthy.

But I digress. So I got thinking. I’m not exactly a patient person – so ideating about my blogging nick was getting me into a state of tizzy, and I had to settle on something quickly.

My eyes scanned my office interiors looking for clues. Pictures of beautiful Adivasis and little kids from government schools adorned the walls of the NGO where I worked.  I was next to an orange wall.  Nothing worked out somehow. ‘The Adivasi Girl’, or ‘Orangiee’ somehow didn’t quite cut it (: .

That evening I took a tea break to visit Bakers Inn (Hyderabad) to satisfy my Cheese Tart cravings. Little did I know that my blogging-nick was safely tucked between two sand-paper like tissues, inside the take-away box.  I opened the box in the pantry and out came the tarts, tissues and a sachet of TOMATO KETCHUP. Aha. Eureka!

Absolutely nothing cerebral about it. I know. But really, do you care? Also, I’ve begun to wonder what the consequences this nick will face when I turn 60 plus. I think I’ll stick to KG, notwithstanding what my grand kids might have to say :). (Oh of course I’ll be blogging at 60, doubtlessly, through my arthritis! Whatever the hell did you think, aye?)

Of course, KG is no more unknown.. No, by ‘not unknown’ I don’t mean ‘popular’.  By ‘no more unknown’, I mean, all those I was trying to hide from -friends, relatives, neighbours- they all know now,  the face behind the ‘Ketchup Girl’. But I  do take solace in people, who haven’t bothered to know more and go beyond Ketchup. You are happy with this Ketchup babe, and don’t want to know if Ketchup was Kylie or Kalyani in the real world, so long as the posts are published regularly. :-) Cheers to you all!

…is mein Kaddu nahin zara! Laal Rasile tamataron se hota hai tayyar , Volfarm! (All who remember this, please stand up!)