#BlogLove - Celebrating 8 Years of Blogging But...

I take on the baton of Blog Love from Stephen !

Anniversaries are commemorative of the years gone by and a way to feel nostalgic about the memories built over time. Both of these parts are equally significant in this celebration. While the amount of time spent is a great memory, the productivity in that particular span of time cannot be overlooked.

I have written about my blogging journey in the past. I celebrate 15th February because I cherish these years and this part of my life very much. But as much as I want to climb up in levels as a blogger, it still remains a "hobby". The past year has dawned a steep sense of this fact in me. While 2016 was beautiful and I have shared that vividly on social media, it did pose a challenge for me to pencil in blogging in my schedule. I had to work harder than ever before to juggle work, personal life and blogging. I couldn't even manage an average of 2 posts a month, let alone taking it to new levels like daily blogging etc.  It has made me wonder, if, say 5 years from now, I would be able to do this any more or not, if I stay a part timer.

So, this year for my anniversary post, instead of reiterating history, I sought suggestions from fellow bloggers and writers who do this part time too. This is one part I would be very proud of - building and keeping fantastic relationships with the "who's who" of the Indian blogging. It took me only an email which shared my idea and perspectives with them and all of the kind suggestions came pouring in.

Whether I will celebrate 9th or the 10th #Blogversary or not, I would live with the satisfaction of being a part of this fantastically close knit community of bloggers, for as long as I have!

With that said, Happy Anniversary to #WritefullyYours! Thanks for all the good times, chances for expression and the love that came in!

The floor is now open for geniuses with their ideas!

Kala Ravi

I guess it is no great brainwave I am sharing but it's just that blogging comes as a respite to one's daily struggles and strife. I blog when I am overwhelmed with the urge to vent out thoughts crowding my head. When I put down these thoughts on my blog, I find a sense of relief and tremendous satisfaction. I would say it is a therapeutic or cathartic experience for me, every time I do a post. So my dear friend, just blog as if you were letting out your thoughts, raves or rants into the ears of a patient friend and a chore it will never seem to be! And like a good friend, your blog will cheer you up with the comments from your readers, keep you motivated and egg you on to do more, do better each time you post.

I suggest, every time you are inspired, just jot down the basic idea, a few lines or whatever strikes you and later refer to these when you are sitting down to do a post. Evernote, I've heard helps with this, maybe you could give it a try.

No regulation, no time management in place yet! But just make a conscious effort to be in sync with what's trending in the blogging world. Most of the times, I get jittery seeing the whole world putting up post after post, but it also ensures I come up with one of my own for every hundred I come across. The post takes just an hour to put down, if you have all the framework, keynotes in your head in advance. Polishing n editing are equally important. So overall two hours/post/week should be good enough provided the wheels are turning through the week, cooking up the steam for it!

Rachna Parmar

I truly love writing and blogging. Since I also work in the writing domain, I guess, blogging becomes second nature to me. Hence I haven't really found it that difficult to blog. Actually it provides me with a great vent and an outlet where I get great support and suggestions. I would tell you to not fret too much. Enjoy what you write and only write when you find time. I can never write under pressure and I would suggest that you do the same. Just do it for pure enjoyment and happiness.

Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan

When I joined for post graduation in 2007, I actually wrote a 'farewell post' for the blog, sure I wouldn't have the hours to spare. I didn't actually. But I ended up still writing. And I've written through PG, when bedridden & in excruciating pain unable to move a limb, in operation Theatres and at all hours. And here, 12 years after I wrote my first post as an insecure Mbbs intern, I'm still writing as a specialist. 

My advice - don't let your thoughts go to waste. When an idea comes to you, note it down in your mobile. I have used Evernote for over half a decade and all those ideas still sit there. Often we get our ideas at the most insane moments (lying awake at night, stuck in a cramped bus)  and forget about them when we are actually free to write. So jot it down in points when it comes to you. Develop them at leisure later on. 

Find what you have to say, what you would like to talk about. And tell it. 

Vinita Bahl (BlogwatiG)

Congratulations on the commendable milestone. 8 years must feel magical! Here's raising a toast to the double digits. I share your love for blogging and I can imagine how difficult it is to stay dedicated. I know I have struggled. And then one fine day I gave myself the permission to take a break. Just like we head for a vacation from time to time to recharge our batteries, a break from the blog is not that bad an idea. Since then, the winter months are a little slow for me. Also because it is the most festive time of the year, at that time I want to make memories with loved ones and not be a social media addict. I have also realised after a break, my writing is more focused and my ideas are sharper. I manage to cut out the noise from my thoughts.
You found your special someone this past year. Life will happen. Be easy on yourself. You compete with no one but you. This is your race. You decide what is your priority and work according to that. There is no one right way to do this. You will learn on the job. And if you are real lucky, you will have an online diary for your kids and grandkids to refer to someday. 

Subha Rajagopal

The biggest challenge a part-time blogger faces is time crunch. That too if you are a working mother with a full-time job, the odds are not in your favor. By the time the daily meetings are over and deadlines are met, there is no more energy left! You cannot shirk your family duties nor your official responsibilities. Only way to save time is to cut down the 'fat' in your personal time. Limit your time for any activity you feel is unproductive. That is the only way to make time for blogging.

It is a day-on-day arrangement. Let me share with you how I am writing it now.

Today being a Saturday, is an official holiday for me. But no, I wasn't free. Far from it!

My son had a school function and half my day was consumed in it. The second half of the day involved taking him to his activity class and visiting my in-laws.

All this was in addition to the cooking, cleaning and laundry work that is reserved for the weekends.By the time I could sit to write this, it is already 10 pm here. It was just the resolve to keep writing that has made me sit and write it now.

Anindya Sundar Basu

Wishing you a happy 8th and many many more. There will be years where it wont go as you had wished but that's okay. You have been an inspiration and I wish someday I can write like you but great knowing you buddy. Thanks for all the support and I remain indebted for your support. As me and my wife both run Pikturenama and have a 5 year old kid at home, it gets hectic and taxing. We also write for eazydiner as food critics for kolkata so in the midst of all this its hard to make out time but since beginning we have been clear about the fact that the blog should not get neglected. Its a mad race against time and no one else so we need to sacrifice a lot also. I like to keep it simple. Consistency is the key in Blogging and its not every time you will write a post that will be viral but unless you write you will never know and if you stop writing you will lose the habit of writing. I am sure you know all this being in the 'business' for 8 years but just thought of sharing my thoughts in this happy occasion.
Once again congrats on 8th and thanks for being there.

Read mor

I pass on the baton of Blog Love to Subha

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

Searching...YOU..!!!

There haven't been many girls who have influenced me, bettered me, hurt me or made me feel special and good. And those who did any of that, could not be with me for long for some or the other reason.

Circumstance is a cruel word. So is Time.

However, there was one girl who did all. And , as usual, we are apart now. I don't know who to blame for it. I took the decision to leave the country, circumstances favored it and time didn't create any problem..!

Now, here I am, sitting thousands of miles away from her wondering whether or not we will ever meet and searching Her in every new girl I meet. It’s crazy, it’s strange but don't blame me because it’s Inexplicable!

I think Her being a girl is not an issue here. It’s her persona that I miss. Her habits, her energy, her craziness, her concern, her care, her……the list goes on..!

Her carelessness hurt me sometimes because I am a kind of person who likes to have some order in life. But a super-extended sorry, till the “y” starts to sound like “e”, always worked. It’s very human to be attached to someone who makes you feel special. And she did that. She would talk to me when she was happy, sad or tensed. She shared, I shared. What else could I have possibly asked for? Or should I have asked for more? I would never know. She was "just a friend"...and I was contended ! I still am and I always will be.

I am in a strange phase of my life now. I try to find Her in every person I meet. And strangely, I find some or the other trait of Hers in everyone. One is bubbly like Her , other is always in a hurry like Her. One of them seems all tensed and serious about studies and taking notes etc during the class and leaves all the concern before she walks out of the classroom!!! :) Someone is childish like Her and someone suddenly starts talking maturely….a special quality of Hers.

I am still searching but I have realized one thing, I would not find someone else like her. She would always be the yardstick against which I will judge people and possibly rate them.

Desire for More is the root cause of every success in this world.

I agree.

But there is a very thin line that separates Desire for More from Discontentment for Life. Ironically, Desire for More can lead you to such a point where there is just a Void which can’t be filled. So, logically I shall move on. But as I said, it’s crazy, it’s strange but don't blame me because it’s Inexplicable!

So
I am Searching YOU..!