Pen is mightier than the Sword

When you look at the title, you feel, "Really? Is that so?" When I was just 10 or 11 and at school, our class was asked to prepare essays on famous proverbs. The proverb I was asked to elaborate was "Pen is mightier than the sword". Writing has come a long way since that proverb. I don't remember exactly what I wrote for the essay. In this age of internet and non-print media, one would really ask, "Is it? Is the pen really mightier than the sword?" 

What can a pen possibly do that a sword cannot? A sword can only instil fear. It cannot convince people of ideas. Pen brings ideas. It changes the course of a nation. If books like Mein Kampf (Hitler), Das Kapital (Marx) and The Origin of Species (Darwin) are examples, could we doubt the might of the pen? In fact, more books and writings have changed the course of history than wars. 

But, where do blogs figure? Blogs are relatively new and confined to the Internet. Yet, blogs can influence people. I have read blogs which some people read with religious determination. They give inspiration for living each day. Some blogs are heavily relied upon while we make financial decisions. Some blogs give us a different angle of the news we read or listen or watch everyday. Blogging, believe it or not, has become a powerful media taking in mind the number of people glued to it. It's an inexpensive media where you can write your ideas in brief and reach an audience that was otherwise inaccessible through books. Seth Godin says, 

"Blogs have eliminated the reason for most business books to exist. If you can say it in three blog posts and reach more people, then waiting a year and putting in all that effort seems sort of pointless." 

(Read Seth Godin's blog on the same topic here)

My thoughts were confirmed yesterday when I went through the BusinessWeek's list of India's Most Powerful People 2009 and found Amit Varma (founder of the blog India Uncut) in the list. The list of 50 places Amit Varma at 48. Amit Varma is in the list for keeping "readers hooked" and bringing a "particular libertarian point of view to his columns and blog items". I am impressed reading through his blog and wish to follow it regularly.

The idea of putting a blogger on the list of India's Most Powerful People has opened our eyes to the possibility of our next revolution coming through a blog page or social networking sites. Blogging is as powerful a media as television or newspaper, without all the expenses involved. So, I hope that with this tool we bring good thinking rather than evil. And, I hope you will stay by me throughout. Thank You. Good Day, Good Night!!!