#Blogchatter : #Blogbuddy 3.0 - One For All and All For One !

That constant yearning for writing something new; Being preoccupied till it's done; The frustrations of Writer's Block; The elation of just finishing a post; The immense satisfaction of knowing that people read it and found it a story or a point of view worth telling are just some of the stages that have been a constant for me for a long while now.

7 years, to be precise!


But make no mistake, everything else associated with blogging has changed!

This is the part where I am going to sound like an old man. Trust me, I am not! But I can’t help the reminiscing, when it comes to blogging.

Back in the day (Yo Yo Grandpa, in the house!) blogging was just about two simple things – expression and feedback. I remember writing my posts, from PoliticallyIncorrect, in my hostel room and then sending emails with the link to a group of about 20 people. All that mattered was for those 20 people to read that post and comment on it. Not that my entire readership was just those people, but the concept of “hits” had not, well, hit home yet! The “word of mouth” publicity was unbelievable, largely because it was a University and Hostel set up. The satisfaction of comments cannot be stressed more. In a world where there were barely any smart phones or free Wi-Fi in hostel rooms and Sify “cyber cafes” still charged an upward of  ₹30 per hour, logging in multiple times a day to check on every comment and replying back, gave immense contentment.

Things changed rapidly, post 2010, when blogging was no longer, just a hobby. It got elevated to a life choice and even a profession.

Some made it big in the Bull Run, some dropped out, and most, including yours truly, hung around, somewhere in the middle.

The most important reason that I am an active @Blogchatter member is because it’s a great platform that combines the nostalgia of blogging with the need of changing times. Its focus on community building through the weekly chats and the #Blogbuddy program, is today’s version of sending out emails to people with the blog link.

With leaving India, I had left behind great opportunities of networking with fellow bloggers. I left when blogging had started to become big there. I can neither be a part of the lavish and extravagant bloggers’ meets nor can I win any sponsored contests that are commonplace in India now. (Thus depriving my mother of many a “Sharma ji ka beta car jeet laya blogging mein!” moments!)

That’s when #Blogchatter comes into play for me. It stands out among many blogging forums out there in being personal. It lets me be me, while reminding of what needs to be done to stay current and relevant. What I can be is a #Blogbuddy to a select group of dedicated writers with similar goals and shortcomings. I can share my experience and learn from them. The certainty of having a bankable group of people to fall back on is a great motivation to keep moving forward!

Therefore, I am a #Blogbuddy with #Blogchatter !

I had a great year with Blogbuddy 2.0. I am going to be friends with my previous group for life! I am so grateful to them that I am speechless, talking about it. Thank you, #WriteHouse for a fantastic year!

I am entering another phase of Blogbuddy with similar expectations and hopefully with greater wisdom.

Go Team #BlogBusters

Let the games begin !

I Want To Take My Blog To The Next Level - #Blogchatter

I was tagged by Navnish  to write this post.

If someone asked, whether you wanted to take your blog to the next level, how much would you ponder, before jumping in, and saying yes ?

Umm...

3 seconds !

Too much?

Yeah, may be!

For most of us, blogging is just passion more than anything else. The natural instinct and urge to , express and share our views trumps everything. 

What may or may not follow, be it, money or followers or fame, is all secondary. 

So a chance to enhance that experience, mutually for the creator and the observer, is one to jump on to !

When #blogchatter floated the idea of elevating the blog to the next level, my first thought was to do something different. In 7 years, I have experimented with language and genre of writing, and I would continue to do so. 

But this time, I decided to have my first #videoblog ! It was a spontaneous decision to record this video and I did that without a written script :). 

In the video, I talk about where I have reached and where I want to be. I recognize the areas where I need improvement and, also, my road map to my goals. I am confident that there would be many like me, with same issues and aspirations.

I hope my stress on evolution, definition of 'next level' and significance of collaboration, appeals to all.

Let's join hands! 

I wish all my fellow #bloggers, good luck and offer unconditional help to anyone who needs it :).

I now tag Neha to write his take on the topic.

I want to take my blog to the next level with Blogchatter. 

Connect. Read. Share. Comment. 

Twitter - @prateekmathur03

Facebook - Writers' Block

Instagram - WritefullyYours

The Prose - WritefullyYours

Google Plus - +prateekmathur

Writefully Yours

Like the Sunrise, some things are bound to happen!
Pic Courtesy - But.The.Words.Prevailed 

We are changing.

Nah...

We are transitioning !

After more than 6 years with 'Me and My Dark Side' , I have decided to move on.

The blog will now be called 'Writefully Yours'.  

You can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Prose, Facebook and Instagram.

The links can be found at the end of this post also.

Why?

Quite simply, it is the time to evolve, or at least, try to! One's work shall be a reflection of the evolution of self, the society and its sensibilities. From a while now, I had been feeling, that the brand of Dark Side and the body of my previous works, were limiting the topics and genres I could cover. Joining Twitter was somewhat liberating, as I could express myself with more freedom (while getting into occasional squabbles), but the old school writer in me couldn't be satisfied in just 140 characters!

Why is re-branding important?

As I said, I am Old School. I strongly believe that a blog shall remain true to its soul. While that might limit the spectrum of content on it, it stays true to it's reader base. I have always felt that I am being dishonest to my reader if, just for the lure of "hits", I cater them sub-par content or cover genres that aren't my natural calling.

Natural Calling

The concept of what is one's natural calling, is the essence of  the evolution of a writer. It's time for me to be more inclusive. I might succeed or might turn into a spectacular failure, but after 7 years of dedicated writing, I owe myself this chance.

This sort of transition is not the first for me. I transitioned, rather successfully, from Politically Incorrect, in 2010. At that time, however, I started a new blog altogether. But this time, it's the re-branding of the same blog.

What to expect...

• Wider range of topics
• More collaboration
• At least for this year, some Politically Incorrect, posts again
• Call for Guest Bloggers
• Campaigns

What not to expect

• Sponsored posts
• Advertisements
• Posts on senseless prompts and contests

'Me and My Dark Side' gave me the recognition, reader base and a great network of  kind and superb bloggers. We support and encourage each other across the barriers of age, gender, outlook, genres and language, just for the sheer love of  Writing. In the past year or so, I have been lucky and proud to be associated with one such group on twitter,@blogchatter. The mercurial rise of the group and their tenacity to help fellow bloggers is unparalleled and I wish to continue my association with them. 

Connections like these, I would always owe that to my blog. It might sound funny to a non-blogger, how I talk to and about my blog, as if she is a real being, but I know, you, being a fellow blogger get that :) .

Let the love of writing prevail ! Amen!

Writefully Yours,

Prateek Mathur

Connect. Read. Share. Comment. 

Twitter - @prateekmathur03

Facebook - Writers' Block

Instagram - WritefullyYours

The Prose - WritefullyYours

Google Plus - +prateekmathur

Blogging Is A Gift That Keeps On Giving - 6th Anniversary Post

Some Images That Have Defined My Blog

"I wanna start blogging with something funny...something...that is indeed...'Politically Correct' "!

I started blogging with this amateurish, grammatically iffy and an ellipses laden line on February 15, 2009. The article was a satirical take on an engineer's dilemma on assignments, and was also published in a college newspaper. An interesting anecdote about this post is that it got that college newspaper, that I also moderated at the time, shut down! The management specifically quoted this post, while telling us how unhappy they were at the jokes and the satires against them and the system, being published.

Quite an entry to the writing world, wouldn't you agree?

I, unlike many others that I have met, can pinpoint, exactly why I became a blogger. In the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks and the public apathy that followed, I just had to write.  I was young, frustrated and informed. That's a lethal combo.  My first blog Politically Incorrect, was opinionated, fearless and quite true to its name. When I wrote "This Time I Will Remember", about the attacks, I got my first feeling of catharsis, through words. I had finally found an outlet to express my emotions.

Those were easier times in blogging . Yes, really easy times. No one cared about SEOs, keywords, sharing across social networking platforms etc. Everything was, literally, just word of mouth.

In October 2009, I launched Me and My Darkside. I haven't sat peacefully since then. And I love it!

I am not a dark person as my posts might suggest. Even though the first poem I ever wrote, was about my own death!

But I do have a very simple philosophy while writing. I try to imagine myself outside of a scenario and then write from a detached point of view. Perspective is important in my genre. Nothing is absolute and hence, I should be able to tell a story from every standpoint. That's why there's always a story in front of me and I just need to pinpoint the voice, I want to narrate it in.

6 years is a long time. I have grown into a different individual than the one who started blogging. Yet, writing is an aspect of my life that has remained, a constant.  I have been very  fortunate to have found a very supportive, and if I may say, a very loyal reader base. I have never met them, and I probably never will, but I feel, I can count on them. Some of them are fellow bloggers who are virtual celebrities. But we all come together as a community and that's the part I love the most. If I ever needed an online campaign for a significant cause, (not for votes in a contest mind you) I know who to DM!

A few of them very graciously accepted my invitation to say a few words about me and my writing.

Saru Singhal

"I am a reader of your blog since I started blogging. Your posts are honest and straight from heart. I have always admired the underlying note in your posts. There are few posts which left an indelible impression - poem that was featured on a radio show and the post for which he won a contest, about your grandma's letter. What I don't like - you don't post regularly. 

Prateek - Write more and write often :)"

Purba Ray

"My first recollection of Prateek is his comment chastising me for a story I'd written about a woman who seeks revenge from her abusive husband. But that's Prateek Mathur for you, there's nothing that he doesn't take seriously. His unflinching honesty reflects in his writing, whether it's a heart-wrenching account of a two year old battered girl fighting for her life [Let Me Go] or the 'TheMisfit' - a harsh commentary on our society or 'Memento' - a touching dedication to the special bond he shared with his grandmom.

On the sixth anniversary of Me and My Dark Side, I wish Prateek many more years of blogging, viral posts that are as hotly discussed as the AIB roast and bestselling books where he'll thank me for my unwavering support in the prologue. "  

Rishikant

"Mathur is a gifted writer. He has very good command over language and a better one on emotions. I am particularly fond of his short stories. Because they are full of very strong emotions and most of the times they make me feel as if Mathur has felt all that first hand. His stories never feel like a work of imagination , they are so real."

Naveen

My Birthday Cake should be big - my blog told me !

"I was never a blog reader until, after college, when you forced me ( yeah you did ) to read your blog. I just read it as a friend. But the next time I read your new article, I read it because I wanted  to. Your blogs were fresh and I could very much relate to it; They were lively, in fact,  are lively. It's just, so, me! Your blog : There Is Something About Mary(s)  is my favorite because , like all, I have a Mary too :). Keep writing;  It keeps a person like me lively and helps me to think emotionally or gives life to my emotional side ! Cheers!"

Udayan

Prateek Mathur’s has always been a very dear friend and is part of the gang. Being so close to him, I frankly never thought he could right so well. But he has proved me wrong with each and every post of his and I am very pleased with that.

You have thoughts but how well you organize them when you pen them down is an art. Prateek knows that art very well. His articles prove that he is a keen observer. I loved many of his posts. 

On his 6th Anniversary of blogging, i could only wish for him to write more and more. Keep them coming buddy, we want to read more.

Blogging is a gift that keeps on giving. My works have featured on a radio show, won a national contest and got me nominated for Liebster award. All these are tangible achievements that I am proud of. But the comments that people leave on my posts, stating that something that I wrote, made them think or relate to, 

is the biggest recognition of all. Believe me, nothing can top that.

I hope nothing ever betters that quiet sense of achievement, even pride, when someone leaves a positive comment or that slight sense of relief when the blogcounter shows one higher number than the last time I checked it ! These are small victories of blogging that have kept me active in the game for 6 years.

Here's to blogging ! Cheers !

                                                           

My Liebster Award Nomination - A Toast To Blogging !

For anyone who loves his/her craft and is passionate about it, a recognition or even a few words of praise by their peers is the best compliment of all. Not only is it devoid of flattery and formality, it's inherently honest as someone of your field has decided to lend their name to acknowledge your work.

I got such a pleasant surprise last week when my fellow blogger Yashi, who creates her magic with words at Split Strings, informed me that she has nominated Me And My Dark Side for The Liebster Award. I humbly accept her nomination and thank her a million for this recognition. I hope motivates me to increase both the quality and the frequency of my blogging.

The word liebster is German for kindest, sweetest or nicest. The Liebster Award is not a physical award but is a chain where bloggers nominate their fellow blogs (with less than 1000 followers) who then can pass is along, keeping the chain of recognition active. It has some standard rules that I have sourced from Yashi:

If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award and you choose to accept it, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.
2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)


Here's my answers to Yashi's questions-

1.Your secret obsession?

Political satire. I spend hours watching Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Newslaunsdry.com and John Oliver. 

2. Your favorite smell?

Unless your follow up question is about my weight, I am going to say, the smell of Indian food :).

3. What inspires you to write a post?

I need to channel my thoughts and sometimes my energy as well. That's my biggest inspiration to write.

4. What is your therapy to get through the lows of your life?

Talk to a very exclusive group of friends that I call "circle of trust",  and/or write about it.

5. One destination you have dreamt of visiting?

There is not one destination that I can think of but if I can make it to any destination off those Buzzfeed lists that one should visit before dying, would be amazing! Also, for me, it's more about whom I am with, rather than where I go.

6. Do you think love gives way to reality?

I believe the other way round. It's the reality of circumstances that decide the fate of love; Distance, compatibility, timing etc.

7. What do you love getting as gifts?

Anything that's well thought of.

8. Given a chance to undo a mistake would you do it or leave it as it is?

I will undo it but I am pretty sure I cannot foresee the consequences even then. There's a reason we are humans, isn't there! :)

9. What do you like to blog the most about?

People in different situations and complexities of life. And their Dark Side !

10. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

Walked a mile or so in -11C (that felt even lower due to wind chill) and knee deep snow in my first winters in USA thinking I could make it. I did make it but it was painful. 

11. What is the biggest dream for you right now?

That I could define "settling down" to myself! 

I put forth the same questions as Yashi's to my nominated blogger friends.

And now's the time for the scoop !

11 Random Facts about me

I love being the Devil's Advocate in a debate.
I am not as serious a person in real life as my blog topics and content may suggest.
I enjoy reading and sharing blogs. Anyone who knows me can tag me in any link they share and I read it!
I can discuss politics with anyone , anytime of the day! If you disagree with me, even better!
I inadvertently quote the show F.R.I.E.N.D.S. because I have seen it innumerable times.
I am obsessed with the idea of analyzing minutest of events in my life. If I don't learn, its a wasted opportunity.
My writing began with a funny post on engineers and assignment in colleges. It was on my first blog and an amateurish attempt of a 22 year old. I still cherish that memory :)  .
I miss my grad school !

My appearance has changed so drastically over the years that if you haven't seen me in 4 years, which many
haven't because I am not in India anymore, there is a good chance you won't recognize me! (It has happened
and it's an amazing feeling!! ).
I believe strongly in Karma.
My Magnum Opus post is in the "making" !

I would like to nominate the following blogs, that I believe are never short of good content, for the Liebster Award:

1) Richa at The Philosopher's Stone
2) Aravind at Rhythm of the Soul
3) Sreeja Parveen at The Alter Ego...
4) Wildflower at Wildflower
5) Rishikant at Many Absurd Thoughts
6) Rachit at  Half Baked Thoughts
7) Vishwaroop at  Zindagi Megh Zara

Thanks again, Yashi. 

Of Food, Philosophy and Passion (Junoon)

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food"- George Bernard Shaw

Prologue

It's not every day that we look for inspiration. Most days are exhausting, mundane and caught in the routine conundrums. Generally, we can't wait for one such day to get over yet dreaded by the thought of  another similar one to begin.

Such is life's irony.

This has lead to the urban legend of Weekends; 2 magical days when we are made to believe, by the

almighty forces of the corporate world, that we can breathe fresh air, enjoy the serenity of the dew in our garden, dance in the rain, feel the soothing warmth of the morning sun, and if we are really lucky, meet our friends and family. Most of us though spend it sleeping and grocery shopping!

However, on one such weekend, yours truly decided to attend an Indiblogger meet in New York City, the first of its kind, and got inspired by an ordinary man's extraordinary life and achievements.

Hi! I am an Indian and I Blog

I will be honest here; I didn't go to the Indiblogger meet looking for an extraordinary story. I went to meet the fellow bloggers of my area, network with them, learn about their work and enjoy my Sunday with gourmet food and delightful cocktails at the Junoon restaurant. It is a famous Indian restaurant, in the heart of the City, known to host a lot of celebrities, and quite honestly, way out of the price range of a recently graduated student. Not a bad deal, is it? 

Our host was the celebrity chef- Vikas Khanna. He is famous for a myriad of things- from being on Master Chef to writing books to hosting President Obama. I was welcomed by the very amicable duo of Anoop and Diana. It was a small group of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s. There was an unusual number of food bloggers that made me wonder if we ever realize how hard it is to describe, in words or photos, a plateful of food. The genre probably doesn't get the appreciation it deserves. Some intense discussions about Indiranks followed our brief introductions. Everyone agreed that blogs of different genres shouldn't be rated by the same yardstick. Similarly, frequency of blogging is bound to vary with the genre. A movie review is not the same as a book review and a poem can't be compared with a photograph. While a rank is not our motivation to write, it surely is an impetus to write more and better.

I don' t think it is possible to have a blogger meet without discussing the 3 most prominent bloggers of our time- Saru Singhal, Purba Ray and the caped "alter ego", Blogwati Gee! It began with my enquiry about Saru's chances to attend the event which then moved to their meteoric rise in the "blogosphere". All of them are relatively new to the blogging world but have not only surpassed their predecessors but  have set new standards for their peers. Saru has just reached the magical figure of 100,000 in around 15 months of blogging. Now, that inspires us to write more than any rank would ever do!

 Our "host in NYC", from Bangalore- Diana

                                                   

"Yes! I am 25 and I write dark poems; still a normal guy though" ;)

The Man Himself

Humility is a virtue, possessed by only a few. Here was a man, who has an international celebrity status, millions of dollars, magazine covers and book deals to boast about and the looks that got him into People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive list of 2011- but he preferred talking about his grandmother's kitchen. "I have an open kitchen here. People can come in and take recipes. My logic is that had my grandmother shut her kitchen doors on me, I wouldn't have made it". Oh, by the way did I mention, that this millionaire had a dirty gamcha on his shoulder all the time!

The kitchen and the spice room at Junoon.

He talked at length about his humble upbringing and background. "Once they fired me from a job. I started giving out flyers and walking dogs in Central Park. I would still talk just about food. It hit me then, that I don't know anything other than cooking at all. If this doesn't work out, I am not fit for anything else!" He has spent a lifetime trying to recreate the aroma of his grandmother's kitchen that remains the most endearing memory of his childhood.

His simplicity and focus bowled me over. How many of us would have the courage to stand up again if we were trained to fit in just one profession- and we get fired from that job in a foreign country ? He was one step away from either returning back to India or live like millions of immigrants who make no difference to the society. Leaving an indelible mark would not just be a farfetched thought, it would rather be a painful delusion.

In my opinion, simplicity comes naturally to a champion chef or you can't survive in a profession where you are as good as your last served plate.  He was in a controversy when he gave a statement, around Mother's Day, about how cooking for President Obama "wasn't a big deal"! "Mein to pind ka admi hun ji, mujhe yeh intreview aur media zyada samajh nai ata (I am from a small village, I don't understand interviews, media etc). What I meant was that a mother cooks for her kid, her entire life; Presidents change every 4 years. If I could serve my mother one day, that's an achievement; not serving to a President".  Needless to say, the queue outside Junoon on Mother's Day crossed the boundaries of nationality. A nation just got reminded of the importance of Mothers by a foreigner "bawarchi". (I know for a fact he doesn't mind being referred to as "bawarchi" as he insisted GQ to have that word on cover with his picture).

We are all ears for you Vikas ji

Preconceived Notions- A Life Lesson in a Recipe

As a fun activity, Vikas brought us a sample of one of his soups and asked us to guess a minimum of 10 ingredients. The food bloggers led the group but, barring one, all at least got one ingredient wrong-curd. When the tasting began, someone said  out aloud that the sourness is due to curd. No one could think beyond that and even the food experts couldn't beat their preconceived notions. Vikas told us with a hearty laughter, that how a chef has to overcome his natural tastes, step into others' sensibilities and create new tastes, letting go of all his notions. A chef's brain must have a short-term memory with taste to be honest to every recipe. We live a life dictated by pre-conceived notions. Everybody has an opinion that subconsciously prescribes our actions. If we could think like a chef, erasing our notions before every action, and start afresh, it would be a much simpler and happier life. I couldn't help but think how many moments, which could have surprised us, are lost just because our opinionated brain didn't let us seize them. With every sip of the soup, which had pomegranate for sourness, I promised myself to be more spontaneous and less judgmental! An opaque soup had all the colors of life, all we needed were a chef's eyes!    

The mystery soup and Vikas ji checking our "papers"

Epilogue

It's been eight days since the meeting, but I haven't stopped thinking about the life of Vikas Khanna. I read about him and every piece proved more inspiring than the previous one. It's a simple story- of talent, ambition, commitment, humility and most of all, JUNOON. On second thoughts, these are the things most notably absent from our lives these days. The traits that should be the very essence of being human are becoming virtues that only a few possess. Where are we heading?

Certainly not towards the simplicity highlighted by a pind da chulha filled with the intoxicating smell of biji ki rasoi.

       My best Junoon moment

Indibloggers of NYC with VIkas Khanna- photo courtesy- Nivedita/Panfusine