IndiBlogger Weekly Diary | Edition 2

Welcome to another edition of our weekly diary! Well, this week everything was going hunky-dory on IndiBlogger and then this happened on IndiTalk.

IndiTalk

Like some chats have a ‘Buzz’ or a ‘Nudge’ that give the recipient’s computer a jolt, who knew ‘earthworms’ could serve the purpose just as well! If you haven’t sent one over to another blogger yet, you are doing it totally wrong! Head over to IndiTalk and do the deed while you talk about everything under the sun with other bloggers!

IndiSpire

 

Now that’s an apt topic on IndiSpire this week in light of the year ending. The topic was posted by Julekha Khatun. It was fun reading all the new year dump lists and by the end of it  I borrowed a few ‘things-to-dump’ from some of the blog posts and made a 5-pointer list of my own:

  • 2014 DUMPlings –  Stop procrastinating (I have already made progress on this one and hence this edition of the weekly diary has come well in time!)
  • Just Dump Them – Short temper (I don’t know if I can though .. I enjoy it too much..)
  • 10 Things I Will Dump This Year – Being Hyper (This I won’t even try .. my whole livelihood depends on me speaking before I think)
  • Dumping Decisions – The Closing-My-Home-to-Visitors Dump (I know that the IndiBlogger team really likes to do this, but don’t do it often enough. So I will give this one a shot ..everyone reading this blog is invited to my house 🙂 )
  • My To-Dump List – Blog design layout (This one is a big challenge for me but I guess it’s nice to change the appearance once in a while.. a fresh perspective, if you will!)

For more posts on this subject, head over to IndiSpire!

Alright! So there is an opportunity to visit Melbourne again on IndiBlogger. I saw an ad on yatra.com about their Melbourne package which cost about Rs 1,00,000 per person. That is a pretty significant investment so it might be a very worthy trip for someone.

Karthik on a plane

Oh well!

The last time folks from IndiBlogger went to Melbourne, it was Mohana and Arti who made the cut and going by their blog posts, they seemed to have had a pretty good time.

That reminds me to tell you that Arti’s blog recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary!  Big congratulations to her! Those of us who have completed 5 years or more of blogging, do give us a shout out in the comments. I guess for any endeavour, completing the first 5 years is a major landmark. At this point you are either very sure that you want to continue doing it or you would think of hanging up your boots already. The 10th year is a bigger test because so many things change in that much time. You may have the same passion for things that you did 10 years ago, but hey, you find that you are not 20 or 30 anymore! That can be a challenge at times but for those who continue to blog with perpetual passion, we salute you!

Moving on to a big discussion point of this week! I sometimes feel that we are getting too careless as a country and that the value of human lives is simply not our priority.

Here are some bloggers taking up the sword for what, at times, feels like an inevitable odd.

Delhi Retains Its Special Honour As The Rape Capital

Who is to be Blamed for Rapes in India?

Courage: Every Girl’s Hidden Power

Another Rape In The Capital City

Top 5 Cities in India with Highest Rape Crime Rate

Rape in Delhi By A Taxi Driver

Did We Learn Any Lesson From Badaun?

How Closing Down Uber Doesn’t Stop Rapes

Uber Needs to Own Up To Its Mistakes

Yet Again We Failed Nirbhaya

Uber Case – Rape Is Not A Mistake

Do add your point of view on the comments section of these blog posts. This will also encourage more people to really make something happen.

Talking about other things that bloggers did in the past week, something on Twitter recently got me into a state of an insatiable hunger and anguish.

@foodietweeter

Before this I didn’t know Biryani had layers. And this wasn’t one or two layers, it was 6 friggin of them. I tried mixing two different types of biryanis to get a semblance of peace but nothing seemed to come close to the idea that I had formed in my head of a six layered biryani. And so I write on… feeling more unsatisfied than ever.

Also, thanks everyone for saying so many nice things on the forum and Twitter about the IndiBlogger Weekly Diary. We are always keen to know your reaction to everything we do! Tweets, comments, blog posts, 6-layered biryani – you can show us your love anyway you want!

 

Now for the special edition mug winners and this week’s question!

Ok so last week we asked the readers to comment on this question.

“From your experience, do you think writing aggressive blog posts help in resolving and creating awareness on the situation or do the perpetrators usually profit from the bad publicity?”

One of my biggest learnings (not implemented yet) has been to state facts without the emotional wreck part. The challenge for me is to control myself from calling the perpetrator a F$##%^ and a D$^^#$ S%^$&^ publicly :-). Some comments say that blog posts that tell the factual story behind the experience are crucial to others not falling for the same fate.

Also Jaideep decided that he would go ahead and write a blog post on the topic (The clever young man that he is!). A novel idea. It becomes harder for me to reference each comment but in his case I can just add the link to his post on the subject.

All righty then, it’s time to announce the recipients of the ‘special edition’ IndiBlogger mugs!

 

  1. Vishal V Kale“focus on provable facts; or clearly write the words ‘opinion based on personal experience, justify with examples wherever possible

 

  1. Parichita Singh“So, I do believe that we should write our (honest) opinions, whether in favor or not, it really doesn’t matter.

 

  1. Jaideep Khanduja“There is a downside to this also. There are certain instances when such insulting posts are intentional with some wrong motives. But such posts do not get much attention and go to their natural early death

 

  1. Saket – “But take for example a few blog-posts containing negative reviews of a holiday-sharing company or an on-line retailer. It sure will drive away potential customers away.

 

  1. Shruti Fatehpuria – She was the first to comment as well. – “As long as we can put the facts straight and stay calm, we will be doing justice to the readers.

Congratulations 🙂 Each of you has won a 2015 special edition IndiBlogger mug

 

 

 

The question for this week:

People ask us time and time again if ‘blogging is dead’. (I have no idea what rock they live under to think of something like this). So, the question is, “Is blogging alive and kicking today? What purpose do you think we, as bloggers, serve for ourselves and/or for the greater good?” Put your discussion down on the comments and we would love to hear your thoughts! And of course, more mugs up for grabs next week as well.

Thank you for reading through our weekly diary. We had a lot of fun going through your blog posts. If there is a blog post that you want us to see, submit it to IndiVine and tweet it! Until next time, it’s over to you!

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87 Responses

  1. Bushra M says:

    Amazing! These editions are only getting better 😀

  2. Renie says:

    I want that biryani! 🙁

  3. The Weekly Diary is now alive, and how!
    Kudos IndiTeam! 🙂

    Coming straight to the Weekly Debate…

    Blogging is now alive and kicking too, and HOW!

    People have started coming to terms with Blogging, even as a profession, as it has gradually emerged from – ‘Oh, so it is a digital diary, hobby, na?’ to ‘You’re a blogger? How old? How many page views?’ and such statistical and even monetization queries coming from many a common men and women too…

    We as bloggers, are a species on an altogether different level!

    Above all, our ‘digital diary’ is now an amalgamation of our experiences, sweet, sour, salty…

    For ourselves, our blog serves as a means of communication to our readers, and for most of us, even as a vent-it-out space.

    It’s our personal space and we chose what goes on it, and what doesn’t as well..

    So, yes, it serves for the greater good, as when we learn from our varied experiences, good or bad, we make sure, we put it down, for the masses to refer to it, too…

    All in all, More Power To The Platform Of Blogging, and Us, IndiBloggers as well… 🙂

  4. The Sorcerer says:

    On 18th of this month. BBQ is gonna be 4 years old. I just renewed my domain and hosting too.

    • anoop says:

      Hey congrats man! Advanced Happy Blog Birthday on the 18th. Its also my grandmoms B’day! 🙂

    • Renie says:

      Congrats man! Did I see on IndiTalk that you spent 26k on hosting? Is that for a year?

      • Swati says:

        Congratulations! 🙂

      • The Sorcerer says:

        A bit under 25k+ $10 for domain via Google apps.

      • The Sorcerer says:

        yeah yeah. I have a long shopping list for stuff that’s not even available in india. I desperately need an open test bench. my back hurts that I have to go under the table. swap, balance and install at the same time with minimum lights. I am planning on dimastech easy-xl sahara yellow with few add-ons but the shipping itself will cost the same amount as the bench itself.

        but on the bright side, I have G3258, i7 4790k and haswell-e 5960X for the keeps. antec 1200w unit, a variant of 6 coolers from noctua+ a LOT of fans. So a good chunk of spending is saved. i think 5960x itself costs 85k via ebay india so i can afford to pay for the import. only issue remains is the motherboard, and rams.

  5. Hrishi says:

    I think now, more than ever, bloggers are forming communities. Bloggers gravitate towards those whose thoughts and words they can relate to, across boundaries of geography and age. THe thoughts of one can influence so many others like a chain reaction or ripple effect, and it is this connection that is being used to share and spread awareness for the greater good

  6. Rekha says:

    I want that mug. Pwetty pulease! 🙂

  7. Rekha says:

    I sstarted blogging about 3 years ago. It was part of my job requirement. But slowly it became a passion. A window through which I shared my experiences and opinion with a wider audience. Agree or disagree is not the point. It helps you read and understand tge various perspectives people have about a certain issue. It also helps you to learn and improve. Blogging I believe is a very powerful platform if used sensibly. The best part is as Hrishi mentioned is that it helps share and discuss our thoughts, experiences with people across boundaries.

  8. Himani Agarwal says:

    Blogging is very much alive and kicking too.

    Not so often we come across questions like what exactly you do in blogging.With articles on blogging coming up frequently in dailies and bloggers being part of talk shows blogging is soon becoming the talk of everyone.
    Its true masses have to understand the potential and power bloggers have but its no more blogging is an alien to anyone.And our words create an impression in the mind of readers. So be it good or bad we are creating impact on others as said “Pen is mightier than sword.”

  9. Yay!!! CK is the star of this edition!!! <3

  10. Ranjith says:

    In case anyone is wondering whom r refers to in the sentence ‘earthworms crawling over r’ in the IndiTalk archive, it is me! 😀 I will soon transfer them to ck! 😛

  11. Rachna says:

    Ah what a question! It requires a blog post to it. 🙂 Blogging is vibrant and thriving. Blogging personally offers me a great outlet to articulate my thoughts and views. It offers a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded people, exchange views and make some wonderful friends for life. Bloggers are a strong community of people who are unafraid to voice their opinion no matter how contentious or painful the topic. Blogging has brought social issues from the periphery of our consciousness to active discussions. I also see blogging as a catalyst for change. I blog regularly for social and women’s issues. Together, we can change things through our words.

  12. Rachna says:

    A suggestion to Indiblogger. Can we have a blogger meet around blogging? Sessions around various aspects of blogging, what it entails and how to blog better? I think it would be wonderful and enriching for all bloggers. And if you ever plan something like this, we want it in Bangalore as well. 🙂

  13. How blogging alive and kicking us. it can be understand by only a Blogger who have passion to share his/her thoughts by writing or post his/her blog Post.

    As Bloggers thoughts and creative ideas are enough to serve for ourselves and/or for the greater good.

  14. Lata says:

    I started Blogging very recently and I find it a lively world. The support provided by the blogging community is awesome considering think that they are not doing it for any personal monetary gains. Plus, the instant feedback is a high not achieved by anything else.

  15. Indrani says:

    Another great collection of great posts. I look forward to these editions.
    btw I completed 7 years of blogging with 1100+ posts, most of them on travel.
    No plans of quitting yet. 🙂

  16. CK says:

    BTW, who’s this chap sitting on the plane, horseriding on it? He must be having quite a lot of guts, doing this epic thing.

  17. Thank you much for this edition! i wonder how I got too busy with other things and missed all the excitement at indiblogger. My New Year Resolution sure has a top priority – Get back to being active on Indiblogger!

  18. As a blogger I feel like blogging can do a lot. Advertise. Tell the truth. Force us to be honest. Be an outlet…

  19. Aziz says:

    Usually we are in a rush and miss whats going on in indiblogger.. but thanks to this weekly round up of all the insights of whats happening and what not to miss out on… the efforts it take to summaries everything in a post is quite a task… thnks inditeam for the all the data crunching and mouth watering round up every week…

  20. Thanks for another lovely edition of the diary :). I wanted to comment last week but by the time I thought of commenting, the week was done with :P.

    I completed 5 years of blogging around July this year with more than 450 odd posts. Been quite a lovely journey in terms of discovering what I like to write, what my readers want to read and also learning so much from different people. The best part has been exploring various topics from rants to fiction to book reviews as well as interviews with authors.

    Blogging is surely alive and kicking now more than anytime in the past. Personally, blogging gives me a medium to vent out my thoughts, anger, understanding on various issues which I like or feel about. For me it has evolved from just a medium to vent out my frustration to one where I engage with my audience and readers to understand what they feel about the topics I write on.

    There are various kinds of bloggers these days – Travel bloggers, Food Bloggers, Book Bloggers, Personal Bloggers, Social Bloggers, Spiritual Bloggers and many many more. These guys are thought leaders in their specific areas of interest and people read them to understand or get their opinions on various topics.

    News outlets quote bloggers on various topics. Bloggers are called for movie launches, book launches, food tasting sessions, social causes, mobile launches, car launches and I can go on and on till the cows come home.

    It just shows that the kind of importance bloggers are gaining with their thoughts and the written word. And this is where, they have the opportunity to shape the thinking of their audience and the world in general.

  21. Abhishek kumar says:

    It’s interesting one.
    Thanks for starting this. Mugs are beautiful and making me greedy.

    Blogging is very much alive and has been creating differences. Whether it is writing to feed a child with Akshaya Patra or writing against crimes.
    Blogs on Delhi rape case is an example of that.
    Whenever It come to bloggers, change is created.

  22. Ruby Singh says:

    Is blogging alive and kicking today?- Yes definitely it is. Blogging has given me a space where I can let go off my emotions and thoughts. It has been just five months for me but I feel I always belonged here. In the age of such hyped social networking blogging still stands strong and has been no less influential than any other medium. So blogging is very well alive and kicking today, hands down.

    What purpose do you think we, as bloggers, serve for ourselves and/or for the greater good?”. A pen is mightier than the sword, it isn’t some random adage it hold a lot of significance. When we as a blogger write about topics like rapes, swatch bharat, pre-marital sex and lot more people do read it and get inspired by it. So talking about the purpose for me it has been a sole source of satisfaction and solace and with the little awareness that my blogs have caused I think we are moving close to the greater good as well.

    Hope to win that super cool mug. 🙂

  23. Maniparna Sengupta Majumder says:

    Wow! this edition is even more interesting…the ‘earthworm’ is crawling all over 😀

    Well, I started blogging exactly 14 months ago and it’s now a passion. It’s such happiness to see my blog growing slowly, like a baby. Blogging as a platform is growing strongly to convey our personal opinions. Most importantly, blogging is perfect for expression and interaction. Every blog has a character of its own. For me, the interaction part is most important and I love to exchange thoughts with other bloggers, from India and abroad. It puts forward a clear scenario of the happenings all around. The social issues, the cultural buzz and individual’s personal opinions on them. Bloggers are slowly but surely getting importance everywhere. And lastly, thanks for being there as a constant support…without you team IB, it would have been a job much difficult. 🙂

  24. Saket says:

    Blogging is not dead but is evolving. And its evolution is sometimes mistaken as it is dead. We can say that the earliest form of blogging was writtings on cave walls. Then it evolved into writtings on leaves, then on paper (distributing handouts and pamphlets), and then on the net. Earlier people blogged using desktops, then laptops, then tablets, and now smartphones. Earlier bolgs were published in isolation, and then evolution gave us a blogging platforms like Indiblogger through which blogs are read more. It’s going to evolve further.

  25. BlogwatiG says:

    If Blogging is dead, I guess I am commenting from the afterlife. And if they say you have no desires on the other side….. rubbish!! I want that mug.

    I am just back from a week in Delhi and all I did was only meet with blogger friends. Blogging and its communities are here to stay.

    PS- Loving the make over, guys. Well done!

    • anoop says:

      ha ha .. the afterlife sounds great! Anyways its good to see everyone meeting .. That was the foundation of IndiBlogger .. The IndiMeets! 🙂

      • Are the IndiMeets going to have a smashing comeback, anytime soon, too Anoop?

      • anoop says:

        Events are seasonal .. usually during December we don’t have too many events happening unless there are some IndiChange stuff like Blanket of relief (for the cold in Delhi) etc. There will be events next year for sure!

  26. Arti says:

    The reason why people say this is because most blogs start lacking any vision or purpose thereby attracting miserable readership forcing them to close down something that they once apparently loved. Question is: can we then conclude blogging is dead? Of course not! It just means blogging is not easy. The efforts, hard work, quality and dedication pumped in by the blogger is what makes a blog truly alive and kicking.

    Thanks a bunch for the wishes, a shout out in the IB diary put a big big smile on my face!! Yay! 🙂 It’s been humbling to have received so much love and inspiration from this wonderful platform – things that are so much more joyful than any monetary prizes and other such goodies. I feel deeply grateful for my association with IB all these years in more ways than one. Here’s to the 10 year landmark, both yours and mine! 🙂

  27. Sammya Brata says:

    Well, that, reminds me of a famous quote by Oscar Wilde “Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence”…and that my friend is perhaps the perfect setting for a ‘poetic resurgence’. Anyway, I’m happy to accepted that blogging is dead…because I have seen a reincarnation 🙂 Cheers (No I haven’t ‘MUG’ged up this response)

  28. Anita says:

    First, I love this IB Weekly Diary! So cool 🙂

    I feel blogging is very much alive & rich. Bloggers are an inspiration!
    People on Social Media wish to take up blogging & command more space on cyberspace! They are very keen to learn “how to” start blogging.
    I am stating this from practical experience. Proud to be of help to my now-newbie-Blogger friends & for having recommended IB for them right from Day1 😀

    The second part of the question reminds me of the IndiSpire Edition #35-
    https://www.indiblogger.in/indispire_topic.php?topic=35 🙂
    There is power in writing & blogging! We have the power! 🙂
    I believe- “Write to make things right”.

  29. Great in all greatness is the diary de indi. Weekly roundup does instigate a spark into blogging at least for me. It acts as a sum up and eye opener for the dying enthu in blogging.

  30. devanagana says:

    Mug is really beautiful.

    Here through blogging, we meet many people who create magic through words and there is a two-way connection the blogger and the reader.I helped me see people of diverse culture, different ages and all were brought closer to me depending on how I relate to what they write.

    It allows us to reevaluate ourselves and improvise. Without moving, I have traveled along with the bloggers to different places, have experienced diverse cultures. We become more socially aware when someone points out the irregularities happening here.

    Blogging is a real powerful medium to express our opinions on all matters and is a digital record of your thoughts, experiences and views

  31. Vidya Sury says:

    Damn, Anoop! I covet that mug now! It looks sexy! Sigh.

    Blogging (I’ve been doing it since Google acquired Blogger in 2003 – yeah go on laugh, I am a fossil!) – is so alive and kicking that what began as a fun activity for people to let the world know about every little detail in their lives is now a HUGE source of promotion for businesses. That too – for cheap. Savvy marketers use blogger outreach programs to leverage the power each blogger has – and multiply their reach very cleverly. With blogger networks like Indiblogger bringing us opportunities, marketers must be laughing all the way to the bank. The best part of this is it is a win-win for everyone.

    As bloggers, we have the privilege of making our voices heard to a huge audience. We have the power to support a cause and bring significant changes in peoples’ lives. (INDICHANGE?) And while we’re at it, we have so much fun, making friends, connecting with people and heck, even making money! Blogging is the best of all worlds!

    Indi-diary is a fabulous initiative and with you writing it, 🙂 the good old icing on the Christmas cake! 😀

    • anoop says:

      Blogging seems to be a good win for writers of any kind and with lucrative offers its a great thing to be doing. Congrats on over 10 yrs of blogging ! I am so glad you didn’t join the Java yuppies of 2003! 🙂

      Thanks again for the encouragement!

  32. Perfect step no. 2 for Weekly Diaries 😀

    Anyways, the answer: Ofcourse blogging is live, it is like throwing a message in a sealed bottle in an open ocean, the waves of the ocean take it far and wide, and you never know, to whom the message gets conveyed, so make sure, it is worth reading 😀

    • anoop says:

      Thanks for the thought Tanishq! Thats so true! You could be an ice slaesman writing about ice and eskimos may be looking you up 🙂 .. sorry, it just popped in my head and it seemed interesting at first!

  33. A small heads up, Anoop. The link to Mr. Khanduja’s post here is ending with .htm
    It should end with .html instead.
    Thanks. 🙂

  34. Oindrila De says:

    Blogging is definitely alive and kicking today! And it will be for many years to come. The medium may change though. I suspect we’ll have more video bloggers and microbloggers than the good old webloggers.

    I can’t speak for others but I feel blogging sets me free and raises my benchmark with every blogpost. As a blogger, I serve the purpose of making myself known to the world. We have immense power to influence and steer our readers’ emotions. We should put this power to good use and be honest with our followers.

  35. Ranjith says:

    There is no such thing like death. Things just keep changing forms. Stories and poems written in personal diaries gave way to blogs. Today, community based blogs are becoming popular. Tomorrow, they would transform into something else.

    Can I get that mug now? 😛

    • anoop says:

      lets say we agree to disagree on the death part 🙂 I am not sure on the mug part for anyone .. a bunch of psychos sit together and decide that fate! 🙂

  36. Shruthi says:

    Yey, I am happy to see my blog post link 🙂 🙂 🙂 And definitely weekly diary is so much cool and looking forward to next week’s..

  37. Tanvi Samel says:

    Woah. Let me start by a big ThankYou to IB. It surely rocks. Started blogging by the end of September and discovered IB in the next 2 weeks. Also the #WordUp meet I missed, only if I had started blogging a week earlier. Alas, anyways hoping and pleading and begging for a new meet soon.
    Next the Happy Hours is pretty amazing concept giving writers easy money and brands a big publicising strategy. I checked my inbox twice Saturday morning and after not finding your mail (wondering why), asked my friend to forward it urgently. It led to so much madness in me that I dared to ask for my neighbour whom I had never talked to his wifi because my wifi was having server issues. All this in between my semester exams. Hope mom wont shout, if she oomes to know 😀
    These weekly editions is an another thing which caught my eye, was going to comment in the previous one itself but al thanks to my procasinating mood and exams it went by. So I decided to post this now, anyhow.
    Coming to today’s question. I feel, blogging is an entirely different hemispehere. Writing is a different thing and publishing it for the world to see is a different concept. Many people, like me dont come ahead due to the fear of getting copied. As for bloggers who are active, for them yes it is active as it is their world. To the rest it is a feeling of fiction I suppose. For me it is a medium to let out my feelings, thoughts and opinions to the world. To make a change through writing is although more of a fictious thought, it’s what I have resorted to. For more proofs on existence and activeness of bloggers, there is IB which boasts of more than 30K registered bloggers. As you rightly say, ‘WE BLOG THEREFORE WE ARE’. This should close the topic itself. 😀
    P.S : I had no idea I would end up being so big in comments, would have written a blog otherwise.
    P.P.S : You guys rock mahn. Like the efforts you put in to make IB bigger than it ever was is totally amazing. Hoping for a meet soon(Mumbai). Much love to IB Team 🙂

  38. anks says:

    Blogging ain’t dead…. ask me, I have been blogging for 11 years now. It’s alive and kicking! When I started out it was a medium to write and share. Today it is a profession. With the number of products that are launched on lifestyle blogs and the kind of events that PR companies do with bloggers , it is anything but dead. The beauty of the blog is that eveyone from student to CEO, home maker to celebrity , politician to common man is now blogging. ..!

  39. Shivam says:

    Blogging is a person’s way to open up his/her heart out. After all, when you look at the generation we are living in today: everyone wants to share something to someone- even private things. Now, as the people don’t like to keep diaries and journals- no one loves to write these days ( i am at talking about kids!)- therefore, blogs step in there. People can go anonymous or even write with their own names. It’s just a medium through which a person opens up! And once the blogger has opened up: they want to do something to raise their voice. And the competitions provide just the right thing. They can do a lot. One voice can be subdued: voices of 121 crore people can’t. Hence: Blogging is love!

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