The following is a conversation taken place between Peaceful (yours truly) and Alter-ego (who has been anonymously lurking around MS for sometime reading everyone’s reviews and comments and forming his own opinions about MSians and wants to now formally register himself here)
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Peaceful: I’ve completed one year at MS! Wowee, congratulate me
Alter-ego: Hmmm, time flies doesn’t it?
Peaceful: you bet, I just got enough time to write 18 reviews so far
Alter-ego: 18? Hey, that’s really shameful. Just look at karana23. He’s joined the site almost the same time as you – just 3 days earlier and he has completed a century.
Peaceful: Aw, don’t compare me with him. He’s a genius and I’m not.
Alter-ego: and he’s trusted by 165 members and you are by only 14?!!!
Peaceful: Now, now…
Alter-ego: And he has….
Peaceful: shut-up will you….
Alter-ego: (has his mouthshut for a few seconds)…
Peaceful: Look, he writes long and lovely reviews, rates with dedication, comments with passion and networks like crazy. Just read his review on “General Thoughts about Mouthshut” and you’ll see what I mean.
Alter-ego: Oh, so you know his secret, then!
Peaceful: And now with an added n to his name, it will get even better!!!
Alter-ego: Great, so you know more secrets!
Peaceful: So? I don’t aspire to be like him!
Alter-ego: Ah, sour grapes
Peaceful: What was that again?
Alter-ego: Aw, nothing!
Peaceful: His range is absolutely unbelievable. Just read his review on “chants of gayatri” – ooooh! And his music reviews – man, he’s brilliant. And despite the number of reviews and the length of each of them, he maintains the quality. Not one of them is a rush-job, its thoroughly researched and lucidly expressed. I can never have that kind of output, ok?
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Alter-ego: Ok, forget karana23. Even a relatively new entrant like Cticize has done far better.
Peaceful: You mean Pras?
Alter-ego: Yeah, as he shatters more keys….he is doing a splendid job
Peaceful: Of course, I’ve put an alert on his reviews. I don’t want to miss any of them.
Alter-ego: He’s already written 24 of them
Peaceful: Yeah, and each of them are unmissable. Just sample the one on “Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki” and the beauty on “Five worst Cricket Commentators”. His style is unique and engaging. I can never write like him.
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Alter-ego: What about the women? Surely there are some good ones.
Peaceful: Of course the best of them all – Cousin2.
Alter-ego: Who, the one who writes stock comments which are sometimes hopelessly out of place?
Peaceful: aw. C’mon. She writes comments to encourage new writers like me.
Alter-ego: You are new? Hey, I thought you said you have completed a year on this site, struggling to make a mark.
Peaceful: “New” as in having written just 18 reviews. Lyla is a veteran having written nearly 400 reviews on a variety of topics. She writes with sincerity and dedication. Her reviews are bound to be useful to any reader. She is completely reliable.
Alter-ego: Are you sure?
Peaceful: Sample her review on “Deathclock.com” and “Mountain Dew commercial”.
Alter-ego: What is it about her reviews that you like?
Peaceful: They are very straight forward and to-the-point. If you genuinely are looking for an opinion on a product, just go to Lyla’s review. The opinion will be staring in your face – you won’t have to hunt for the relevant lines in a verbose essay.
Alter-ego: So what prevents you from being like her? Your reviews too are straight-forward, as you claim.
Peaceful: (Sounding hurt) As I claim? Why, don’t you think so?
Alter-ego: Never mind. Tell me, even if you don’t write witty reviews, you can still be popular, as Cousin2 has shown.
Peaceful: For that, you need to spend all your time browsing thru MS. I can never do that.
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Alter-ego: That’s 1 woman for 2 men!
Peaceful: I’m not playing gender-equality issues here. But if you say so, I would like to mention RJois. Her reviews are really enjoyable and so are her comments.
Alter-ego: Isn’t she one of those movie review writers?
Peaceful: on the contrary. Her repertoire is really varied and her book reviews are some of the best I’ve read on this site – just see the ones on “Parva” and “Gora”. And her humour is carefully woven into the review which makes it very subtle and classy.
Alter-ego: But all this is a bit high-funda stuff
Peaceful: Ok how about the simple stuff then – “Nandini flavored milk”? That’s an interesting review as well.
Alter-ego: Right so RJ is a good role-model for you.
Peaceful: Now, now don’t get carried away. I’d never be able to write reviews like the one she has penned on “Kayar”.
Alter-ego: You are a loser, man! Ok, let’s try some other names.
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