With the news that HubPages has just exceeded half a million Hubs, it is time to reflect on the magnificent and explosive growth of this superlative and premier online writing platform.

While there was a time when HubPages was neck in neck with Calamaridoo, this website has since left all competitors in the dust. There is no way to compare the overwhelming reach of HubPages with any other similar website on the planet, and that is a factoid which makes me extremely proud.

I am certainly not conceited enough to claim that I deserve even 1 thousandth of one percent of that success, as my brand of 1300+ Hubs is an acquired taste which not many readers have the tough hide or esoteric interest to acquire. Although I probably have written a considerable proportion of the most controversial material on this site, it is telling that on any given day traffic to my Hubs discussing Obama's Marxism, the comparative values of Judeo-Christianity vs. Islam, or the quantum nature of the universe are outdrawn by an order of magnitude by my Hubs dealing with plastic wine glasses, where to buy wholesale flip flops, and where to play free soccer video games online.

It seems that we live in a world where online soccer video games trump the devastation of the U.S. Constitution and the epic pre-Armageddonian confrontation of great theologies... and I do have to admit that fact saddens me. I never did truly and enthusiastically embrace the prospect of enrichening my bank account through the shower of pennies from AdSense, thus I stubbornly and unrealistically maintain that there is still room for intellectual, vigorous and informed debate about critically important global topics in an age soaked in electronic media hypnosis and Ecstasy.

Yeah... and I'm probably wrong.

However, when nobody was looking, a factor quite different from PS3-addled adolescent pixel wanking creeped onto HubPages. It seems that although this website is a jaw-droppingly high 170th in popularity on the Alexa rankings in the USA, it is 125th in Pakistan, 67th in Sri Lanka, 66th in India, and 57th in Bangladesh.

Those ranking figures are nothing short of astounding. When you consider the tens of thousands of major websites in the world such as cnn.com, microsoft.com, apple.com, et al., to reach double digit levels in the Sub-Continent while beating the ranking of such powerhouses as eBay India is simply incredible. Would anyone at the founding of HubPages have believed that by late 2009, this website would have been more popular in India than Apple Computer and The Pirate Bay???

The appeal of HubPages to readers in the Sub-Continent is truly stunning, and a testament to the wisdom and expertise utilized to create and develop this precious online resource.

The overwhelming committment of time and interest by that area's online readers is the main reason why, effective immediately, I'm changing my name to Hal Bollywood. From now on you can look forward to reading these pearls of Hub Wisdom from your favorite motorcycle riding cat Hubber:

Beautiful Desi Girls Show Their Best Ass-ets
Secret Sicilian Garam Masala Recipes
I Slept With Aishwarya Rai
How To Rebuild Your Hero Honda 125 Engine For The 37th Time
Proof That Dr. Manmohan Singh Is An Alien

Namaste!