serendipitous

Aliye and I were searching for a cool name for our blog and all the coolest ones were already taken. Well we tried couple Latin words without putting too much thought on them. Later coming across with the idea "Serendipitous Connectability" in Punya Mishra's blog, I was amazed by how this whole idea reflect the post-internet era. According to Punya it is "the idea that the web allows us to “to run across things that are stunning in their ability to connect to us in powerful, emotionally touching ways.” But more than that, fun part comes from exploring the etymology of the word serendipity. The word derives from Serendip which was an old Persian name for Sri Lanka (used to be called Ceylon too). The father of this word is an Englishman, Horace Walpole" who coined the word in a letter he wrote in 1754. The base was a fairy tale called "The Three Princess of Serendip" where the princes were always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity if the things they were nor looking for. As a fairy tale freak, the story reminded me One thousand and One Nights along with the folkloric elements. I was intrigued by this word immediately as i got to know the history and story of it. Looking back to my history, coming here, starting my phd, meeting all the people in my life, friends, good friends, was I looking for them? Was I planning? Not exactly. Well, even while writing this piece, I already came across with a lot of information on the web serendipitously, clicking by not knowing where they would lead me next. So, here we are, modern princes and princesses who travel around, encounter things and discoveries which are not necessarily searched for.

Do you think this is serendipitous, too? 

Who are these people?

a bunch of graduate students...

got together serendipitously...

to share stories, ideas and opinions... 

massively, collectively, collaboratively...