#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 !

That Girl With The Mona Lisa Smile!

I guess I am to blame,

I saw her every day,

But didn't know her name!

She lived right across the street,

But we never got to meet!

And then we met in the park,

Smiled, said hello,

And continued running in the arc,

That day, I ran an extra mile,

Just to be with,

That girl with the Mona Lisa smile!

And Meeting and spending time became a routine,

With her, life was, what it had never been,

Fun, frolic, lively and worthwhile,

All because of

That girl with the Mona Lisa smile!

And the day I fell in love with her,

The reality began to blur,

I loved her eyes her skin and even her plait,

In her, I saw, my soul mate!

And so I thought, what I feel I should tell,

I love you, on the top of my voice, I wanted to yell!

This wasn't me, this wasn't my style,

But it all looked correct

For

That girl with the Mona Lisa smile!

And it seemed like a dream,

But dreams are never true,

Sudden, as it began,

Sudden, as it grew,

The illusion would disappear suddenly,

I had the deja vu.

And it ended too soon,

The smitten phase, the honeymoon,

No summers for me,

The spring of my life was followed by just monsoon,

Who would have taught me that heart is fragile,

No one, but

That girl with the Mona Lisa smile!

And everyday spent with her.

Is etched in my memory,

These memories are forever,

Like a beautiful and serene poetry.

And I may move on and love again,

But I ll still always maintain,

That she was the first,

And she would not fade away,

Even for a while.

She....

That girl with the Mona Lisa smile!

Vote for me now!

Of Context and Timelessness - My College Diaries

I believe in context, in my approach towards everything in life. Nothing makes sense to me unless I understand the bigger picture. My actions, especially, must be in accordance to this philosophy. I apply the same logic while blogging.

What's the context of remembering college days, 5.5 years after graduation? It's almost three years since my Masters graduation as well. Life has changed. It no longer revolves around the Food Court, silly crushes and GPAs. What's there from my late teens to early twenties that I can relate to in my late twenties? As I sit back and introspect, I could see 2 very significant factors that make my college days relevant, even now.

The first and foremost is the relationships that I built there.

Over the years, I have come to realize that it's harder to make friends now. There was something in that age of 18 to 22 when making friends came naturally to us. May be it was the naivety, but it gave all of us some of the best people we have met in our lives.  My core group of friends, still remains the same. Distances, jobs, marriages, and even, not meeting each other for years,  has not affected that. These are the people I share my laughter, sorrows, successes and failures with.  They are, as I often call them, my circle of trust. None of us are overachievers or possess an extraordinary prowess in our respective fields. All of our struggles made us stronger and sharing them with each other made the successes sweeter and the failures easier to live through. That also kept us relevant in each others’ lives. So, whether it was a setback in USA or a roadblock in Hyderabad or a hiccup in Germany, it was shared. It also taught us how parallel our lives still remain despite of all that differs. The assurance to have people, who have known you for a decade, on speed dial, is priceless.

The other thing that  I attribute to my college days is my writing. The first opportunity, applause, feedback and motivation, all came from my college. Writing has also always been cathartic for me. It’s the best outlet for my emotions and opinions. When I left college, on May 19, 2009, I felt devastated and so did most my friends. I felt lost even though I had a roadmap for my future. And writing came to my rescue.

I struggled for a week and finally, on the night of May 25, 2009, sat down and penned a post to calm my inner self. I recounted my last days, the lessons learnt and a promise to move on. It was 1550 words of raw emotions. This contest made me go back in time and read through those words and I would like to share some excerpts –

“Lesson I – A Myth broken- Night of May 9, 2009 (when the first group of friends left)

Boys don't cry. The only occasions when boys do cry is their sister's wedding, that too in the end, hiding and wiping off the tears as fast as possible. However, that night was an exception. There were very few words exchanged but still no tears! The taxi arrived and we started to arrange the luggage. A strange silence surrounded us. Then something happened. 2 friends hugged each other and started crying. It was sudden, like opening the floodgates! I looked up to Naveen, the biggest and the most muscular guy of our group. He was off, totally. He couldn't hold back and dragged all us into a group hug. Strangely, it all felt good. Boys don't cry, alright, but boys can cry, and that’s alright too.

 “Lesson II – A Truth Realized- Night of May 17, 2009 (second last day of college)

In the middle of the night, myself and Udayan started talking of the past and soon we both became quite vulnerable and called up our mentor-Rishi Bhaiya. He made us realize that we will learn to be apart from each other. May be this separation from people, we have been with 24x7 for the past 4 years, is necessary for our growth as individuals.

There was nothing new that he told us. But it was the timing or the way he told us that it struck the right chord. We just looked at each other, shook hands and I left. On my way back, I was thinking about MS in USA, Stony Brook vs Rutgers etc, nothing of the past but every trivial thing of the future. The Rishi Magic had worked."

 " Lesson III-An Era Ended- May 19, 2009

All said and done, we were still leaving the place we loved to hate for four years. There were a lot of people leaving that day. Hence, a lot of goodbyes and hugs. There is no better feeling to be seen off by our best friends. It makes you feel that there are people who care, there are people who miss you and there are people who want to see you again. The train moved and VIT was left behind- a place we loved to hate."

Looking ahead, doesn't mean forgetting the past. My college life did shape me for the future. I have met some amazing people in the past 5 years and, I could build new memories with them, only because of my experiences in my formative years in college. For all that, and a lot more, I treasure my college days.

05BBT215 would always be significant.

In 5 years, one thing hasn't changed, my best friend , Ramya, still oozes the same energy!



The "Circle of Trust"- over the years- from left pic 2- Rohit, Siddharth, Swagat, Udayan and Pankaj



And we meet again. Naveen and I at Times Square, 2013

'This post is my entry for 'My College Diary' contest held by travel blog My Yatra Diary in collaboration with Collegedunia.com' 

I tag Rishikant (http://meetrishi.blogspot.com/),
Udayan (http://udayanzone.blogspot.com/) 
and Aseem (aseemrastogi2.wordpress.com) to write on this topic

Memento

I have struggled immensely to write this post. I gave up a couple of times as well. But I felt a deep emotional connect with the idea and my initial thought process as if I owed this piece to myself. What started off as a tribute to a memento, finally  became a way of closure for a memory.

My most cherished memento is a hand written letter from my late grandmother, from 9 years ago.

I was 18 years old then and was leaving home for the first time to join a college, 2200 kilometers away. She suddenly marched into our prayer room and handed me a white empty envelope. Behind the envelope was the hand written letter. It was a hurriedly written small letter, essentially, ruing the fact that I was going far away, asking me to take care of my health, study well and keep in regular touch.

The contents weren't extra-ordinary that you wouldn't expect from a grandparent. However, what made that letter so special for me was the fact that my grandmother had been practically blind for almost 15 years. I have distinct memories of her reading newspapers every morning holding them less than an inch away from her eyes. I remember her watching TV sitting barely a foot away, with her ears glued on the screen (yes, not her eyes!). Someone with such severe disability, to put that much effort, makes it priceless for me. 

I took the letter that day, put it in my wallet and it has stayed in every wallet I have had since then. But I didn't realize the importance of the letter till very late even though I was always emotionally attached to it. I believe our memories are conditional. We can't miss even our most prized possessions everyday owing to our hectic and roving lives. I never really "returned" back once I left home. Those childhood memories of my home and my grandmother were locked away and were overshadowed by the last 9 years when I moved cities, universities, jobs and countries. 

I met her twice in the last 3 years of her life and hadn't seen her for a year when she passed away. I couldn't return home for another year after that. Since I was away for so long, I never really felt how much difference her passing away had on me personally, till I returned back to her empty room.It was only then I re-lived those moments in my head, and thanks to this contest, I realized the significance of this memento and got some closure to her memories. 

She and this letter, although close to my heart and ever present, aren't a part of my daily life, I must admit. We learn to live without our near and dear ones, such is life. But I do miss her in small gestures. Like, how she wanted to add Ghee to everything , including Maggie! Or when I see my father putting his car keys everyday in front of her photo as he couldn't take her blessings for this one as he took for his previous cars. The most we all miss her when we look at the empty eyes of our grandfather who spent 68 years and 10 months married to her.

The back of the envelope, she wrote on

The Letter. I am addressed to as "Maan".

Late Smt Kanta Devi Mathur (1927-2012)

Suggested Blogs-

http://vishwaroopsharma.blogspot.in/

http://half-baked-thoughts-rj.blogspot.in/

http://manyyabsurdthoughts.blogspot.in/

"This post is my entry for the ‘My Most Memorable Memento’ contest conducted by My Yatra Diary travel blog and Indian Coupons."