The IndiBlogger Weekly Diary Edition 7
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the IndiBlogger weekly diary! As the IndiBlogger Event season is upon us, we will be doing a cover story on our events, its origins, its jaw dropping statistics and some of our favorite moments! We will also reveal the winners of last weeks question and that’s going to take up all the space on our blog this week! 🙂
Organized over 100 IndiBlogger Blogger Meets, met over 10,000 bloggers, spent butt loads of money, collectively consumed 3200 cups of coffee, ravished 2000 liters of “fancy” beverages and then there’s Karthik. Well, why do we do it? Read on..
The first Meet of its Kind!
The Bangalore IndiBlogger Meet
Saturday February 16, 2008 – 4:00 PM onwards
This was the event that started it all. The success of this event would define IndiBlogger’s offline activities for the years to come!
Here is the first post that we have ever received for an Indiblogger event. It may not seem like much but it certainly got the word out there.
In 2008, events for blogging were virtually non existent. we used to meet bloggers at “Bar camps” the real one and the literal bar :-). There was a “Blog Camp” series as well which I didn’t find anyone taking responsibility for and there was nothing to specifically recognize bloggers as a group or a community on a nationwide scale. The first event helped me understand, what blogging meant to people. It was an electric affair and we trashed the MS Bangalore office as well :-). The community team at MS let us to do whatever we wanted (and in their office!). No one knew what to expect and neither did we. A lot of the bloggers told us that they had never felt so involved in any other event, not quite like this anyway.
At some point during our first few events we had a “Movement” called “The Jig”, that Renie conjured up one day. I have no words to describe it but everyone seemed to enjoy it 🙂
After a few more meets we landed up in Bangalore again and this time we wanted to break the confines of a corporate environment and so on the eve of the first Iron maiden concert in Bangalore, we decided to go out and rent the pub “Stones” for a night and bring the roof down.
The comments on our meet page sums up the event. Stones allowed us get behind the counter, play our favorite music, take requests and basically own the bar for the night. They must have loved it too until someone spilled beer on the counter 🙂 That didn’t stop anything though, we continued to run wild.
And interestingly enough, Vineet Rajan was at this event as a blogger! And as usual, asking everyone to do stuff for him. We should have killed him when we had the chance.
After 15 odd meets we reached a point where things had to change and the press was also showing a lot of interest when 150 bloggers decided to show up for this event in Hyderabad. One major aspect of our events was not to judge a blogger by “influence” and “quality of writing” or any other bull shit. We allowed bloggers who had just been blogging for a month to others who were blogging for many years. This accomplished a lot for us as more and more people started getting inspired to write. As long as they were registered members, we found that the people who had just started blogging were equally enthusiastic in promoting the IndiBlogger community and getting others to blog with them as well. A lot of them turned out to be great writers as well!
IndiStat: 10,867 bloggers have attended IndiBlogger Meets to date!
The Independence Day Blogger meet in Mumbai!
Sunday August 15, 2010 – 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM
This meet was a turning point in many ways for IndiBlogger. It was one of our first events with “obscene” budgets. We attracted some of the top bloggers in Mumbai at that time. Even Gul Panag decided to walk in, see what the fuss was about and moderate a forum session as well. A lot of the bloggers who attended this event are taking blogging seriously at the moment. Magali Vaz who came with her mom at the time, is one such blogger. Looking at her regular tweets and posts, I can see her loving what she is doing at the moment.
Press: http://anubha-bhat.blogspot.in/2010/08/indiblogger-bloggers-meet.html
Some Event posts:
https://manavdhiman.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/indiblogger-mumbai-meet-indimum/
http://saurabh-shah.com/en/2010/08/24/indibloggers-five-star-meet-in-mumbai-2/
http://www.finelychopped.net/2010/08/we-dont-need-no-chutney-sandwiches.html
I don’t think we’ve ever been able to recreate the unique magic of this meet. I tried to preserve it with a bizarro video. It was good fun going around and asking everyone what was wrong with the event as opposed to asking them if they enjoyed it! When I see it now, it reminds me why I should stop drinking, for the duration of the IndiBlogger meets at least :-D.
The uncensored, backstage pass, all inclusive Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G9JwMfHGmo
IndiStat: The number of meets and the average participants in each city.
The IndiMeet with Spice:
Sunday June 10, 2012 – 3:30 PM to 8:00 PM
This event was also ground breaking for us, as for the first time we allowed a celeb take on a complete segment. It was great to see Rajiv Makhni in his elements! I don’t think he has been able to match the excitement that he had on any of the other IndiMeets that he did later. It was also the day that the mantra (For lack of a better word), “Hurr Hurr” was first done. It was done to introduce Rajiv as a one time thing, but the deafening sound of over 300 bloggers chanting “Hurr Hurr Hurr..” as Rajiv walked in at The park in Delhi, meant that it wouldn’t be soon forgotten. It was an arena in there!
This was also the day when Prateek Shah decided to run amok among the crowd of bloggers with arms flailing and yelling at the top of his lungs. He runs a happiness workshop and I think we pushed him over the edge of happiness 🙂 Here is his post!
The “Hurr Hurr” made an appearance at the Vodafone IndiBlogger meet in Mumbai where Lewis Hamilton granted IndiBlogger an interview with IndiBloggers, and within the first 20 seconds of this video, you can hear Lewis Hamilton say and I quote, “This is the best welcome that I have ever had”. Groovy! 🙂
IndiStat: The Big Ones!
The commercial awareness for digital marketing is limited in many other cities and towns. If you have any ideas on how to get a meet organised in your city/town, do let us know! We have an option for you to create your own meets be it in your house or a coffee shop. At the moment these meets are not for commercial purposes, however if you guys want to meet up and try some book reading or invite people for some activities like treks and photo walks or just plain ol’ chit chat (My favorite!), you can create your own event here.
There are many more memorable moments including the IndiBand playing its first gig in Mumbai and the networking events like Kotak Jifi where we connected 3 cities via big screens. That was a fun experiment as well.
There are always some regulars at IndiBlogger meets, and they really know how to utilize them. They also give us a lot of feedback and keep us real honest. Usually around 30% of the bloggers who attend our events are veterans. This means that with the rest of the 70%, there are plenty of networking opportunities at every IndiBlogger event.
IndiStat: The ones that come no matter what!
* All Stats in this post are as of December 2014, courtesy our stats engineer Sainath Krishnan.
| Blogger ID | Name | City | Meets Attended |
| 36497 | janaki nagaraj | Mumbai | 15 |
| 42993 | Blogwati Gee | Mumbai | 14 |
| 20435 | vasudha rao | mumbai | 12 |
| 41202 | Aditi Pathak | Mumbai | 12 |
| 7218 | Rinzu | New Delhi | 11 |
| 9473 | Jaideep Khanduja | New Delhi | 11 |
| 19126 | Ekta Khetan | Mumbai | 11 |
| 26772 | Vinay “Leo” R | Bangalore | 11 |
| 37245 | Sumit Gupta | Mumbai | 11 |
| 50794 | keerthika singaravel | mumbai | 11 |
| 51165 | Shwetabh Mathur | Faridabad | 13 |
| 18831 | Hitesh Rawat | Noida, Bengaluru, delhi | 10 |
| 22171 | Raghava | Bangalore | 10 |
| 31246 | Fatima | Mumbai | 10 |
| 35117 | ankit jain | Mumbai,indore | 10 |
| 37732 | Manjulika Pramod | New Delhi, Faridabad | 10 |
| 41813 | Tushar kulkarni | Mumbai | 10 |
| 41922 | Nikhil Shedbale | Mumbai | 10 |
| 46611 | Aziz Ampanwala | Pune/Mumbai | 10 |
| 48122 | yash shah | Mumbai | 10 |
| 49348 | Nandini Deka | Bombay | 10 |
| 51726 | Akash Bagaria | Mumbai | 10 |
| 51842 | Pawan | New Delhi | 10 |
| 52935 | Aditya Nath Jha | New Delhi | 10 |
So, in a nut shell, we do events because we love it. there is no other reason for it. We profit much more from our online campaigns, and because of the setup costs and time involved in executing an event, we couldn’t have done so much if we didn’t absolutely love it! Events are the only offering that demands the time of the entire team. At the end of the day, its all worth it.
The winners of last weeks questions!
Before I announce the winners, I would like to point out that the sending of the IndiBlogger merchandize will be delayed by another week. This is because our logistics and creative editor (Swati) of our weekly diary decided to go galavanting on a bike for a couple of weeks. She is on her fourth breakdown. Two more to go.
This weeks question and the IndiMugs are back!
Comment on your favorite blog post of all time with the link and why you think it’s dear to you! That’s all you gotta do for a chance to win The IndiBlogger “Blog Now, Live Forever” IndiMugs. Yes they are back!
Heeeya..my name is there in the list \:D 😀 :D/ Is official..I’m indimeet-addict :p
HURR HURR
haha I guess you are an IndiMeet addict! Yay! and Hurr Hurr! 🙂
http://www.captiveofthoughts.com/2014/04/as-she-walked-away-some-stories-are.html
My favourite blog post, and will always be. The emotions portrayed in it directly came from heart. And everytime I read it, i still feel the goosebumps I had while writing this. 🙂
Hey tanishq! Thanks for the comment and your favorite post! Will be going through it soon! 🙂
My fave post has to be undoubtedly this
http://bhavyakaushik.com/post/88766418655/little-infinity
I’ve left more than one “fat” comment already on the post and the reason is that some poem ends up being more than just another piece laced with fancy words and rhymes.
I believe that too often we all relate with different pieces of poetry because somehow we all think we are written for. However, in this poem, the chords of my heart were touched as it portrays how sometimes love is not enough and yet is more than enough because it stays and keeps you sane when the rest of the world falls apart.
When I read this poem, I had too much going on in my mind already and so everytime I read it, I can vividly recall the days, the memories, the life I cherished that time, the feelings that engulfed my mind, the love I had, the story I lived and the people who were poetry.
Sometimes, it takes one poem to know that some people come into your life to become the poetry you always wanted to write.
Sigh I got overwhelmed with my emotions. Your favorite posts are always like that, giving you a home outside your home 🙂
Hi Shruti, Dont worry about the long comment! not one bit! I understand the emotion behind the poetry only ehen you describe it. and well described! 🙂
Wow, these are amazing stats and really beautiful.
There are only big cities in the list.
I wish, any city of BIHAR could make its position in the list in future.
I love to read but what and what a mobile can hold.
As much I read, Qamar Waheed Naqvi’s weekly column “Raag-Desh” attracts me a lot.
His column on delhi rape case was eye-opening- “तो फिर शिवकुमार ही क्यों डरे”
http://raagdesh.com/are-we-serious-to-stop-rapes/
Hi Abhishek,
We almost did one in Bihar a couple of years ago, but it didnt materialize. You can create your own meeting on indiBlogger though to get things started and then who knows things might happen 🙂
That’s really an eye opening record. So many Blog meets and fellow bloggers are meeting regularly to share the thoughts and know each other. I really feel I have missed this. Like Abhishek, I would also – kash you move to some B-class towns for more varied participation. Looking forward to it.
As for the favourite blog :
http://creative.sulekha.com/mother-an-epitome-of-sacrifice_76119_blog
Mother – An Epitome of Sacrifice – The poem was written as a part of contest on Women’s day as a tribute to Mother. The relationship is so pure in itself that anything written with her in mind has to be ultimate. I always love this. This also won the best Blog in that contest.
Since I shifted to Blogger with all my poems at one place, This poem has also been placed here.
Hi Aditya, The events are quite regular and you may have missed a few but there’s many more so see you in the next one!
This one got me the biggest Indi hangover ever and a golden chance to understand Indi much closer than before.
http://www.shwetabhmathur.in/2013/07/indiblogger-when-zombies-attended-meet.html
BTW, my appearances count in the Indistats is wrong..the final count is 13.
ha ha I remember this one! It was a fun meet! 🙂
Hello IBloggers 🙂
Though this may look like shameless self promotion my favorite blogpost is this.http://takingthingsslow.blogspot.in/2014/02/bhoot-bangla-midnight-trek.html
This was one of my very early blogposts and the one that got me very excited about blogging and trekking to different places. (I am going to blog about this, so I am going to be very attentive on this trek). I discovered the joy of going to a place and sharing the love with the world. Going places, meeting new people and then writing about it. Writing made my memories sharper, in a way it was reliving the trip all over again. This trek was special because it was different from other day treks . It was a “bhoot bangla” trek. Also we filled it up with a spooky b’day surprise for a friend Numrata and it is one of her most cherished birthdays of all times for which I am super glad.
Hey Mansi, That description makes me very nostalgic. My first major trek was through the Himalayas.. hmmm .. I gotta do it again! 🙂
One of my good friend in this list ” Yash Shah ” 🙂 Wooh
Ah sooper! That is a good friend to have 🙂
Well my fav of all time- The Mistaken List (http://allaboutstyleandlove.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-mistaken-list.html)
A short story i have written by me on an incident happen with my friend which gives me the reason why being attentive to your goals in necessary!
Hey Simran, The best stories are from real life. Looking forward to reading it in a while! 🙂
http://www.nirogikaya.com/2013/09/diet-tips-for-weight-loss-in-hindi.html
This is my favorite blog post on diet tips for weight loss in Hindi and there is special reason for this. I have done a lot of research to write this post. I get more than half organic traffic from this blog spot. I have also received many comments,emails and calls from readers for this blog post.
Obesity is like a endemic now and I am happy that through this blog post and my health blog in Hindi, I am able to educate and help people to lose weight and get fit. Thank you all readers, fellow bloggers and Indiblogger team to motivate us to write more and more.
Hey Doc, First off! Its good to have a qualified doctor blogging. I have been telling my doctor friends to blog but they say they dont have time. So, good on you! And yeah, good dieting tips does bring in traffic 🙂
Thanks Indiblogger team, Just saw my name on last week question list !!!
This year has brought me many great news. This year I got a Android One mobile from Google for there Hindi Translation contest. A FK Voucher for Dabur Happy Hour and now this. Fingers crossed for Garnier Happy hour 🙂
Happy Blogging !!!
Well deserved sir! 🙂
Good to read about the journey of IndiBlogger meets, which I guess is the most liked things over here. I am a big fan of those meets and in fact during last ASUS meet, I too volunteered with you guys, which gave a great feeling to me. But then unfortunately we did not have any meets, which is really sad….
Hey Alok, Hopefully we will have more IndiBlogger meets this year! 🙂
Hey. Difficult to say which post is a personal favorite,but if I were to say which post was written without any prevarication,any polishing up- an absolutely from the heart post then it has to be ‘Heartless Friend’.And for its honesty it is my favorite..
http://anjuscorner.blogspot.com/2013/11/heartless-friend.html?spref=bl
Hey Anju, Thanks for the link to your post! I have been noticing that most have a poem as their favorite post .. I guess because you can read between the lines of what you have written. Nice! 🙂
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6922276313427940626#editor/target=post;postID=4981793489605832868;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=1;src=postname
Although I cherish all the moments I have spent with INdiblogger however,the DID meet as well this post is always cherished whenever I recall my moments with Indi…this was of the meet we enjoyed maximum as well as the activity done about the cause was another one unique and connecting as well we all connected really well…looking forward for the Indi meet…:)
hey Dipali, Good to hear from you. I am thrilled that you find the IndiMeets exciting! See you in the next one 🙂
My favorite blogpost:
http://sahisridhar.blogspot.in/2013/01/namma-chennai.html
Being a hard core chennaiite, This was the first post where i put together all the goodness of chennai in words,and also attempted a poem in Tamil which made me to appreciate the language and made me attempt few more posts in the language(even though it is not my mothertongue and with the help of my mom)
Blogging brings out the hidden goodness of not only the place but also everything we put up in words!!
Hay Sahithya, “Hard core Chennaiite”.. I love it. I havent met too many people from Chennai who say otherwise! will read the post soon! Thanks 🙂
good to read these weekly blogs from IB. Interms of the best blogpost i like the series “faces of india” done by indrani. One sample is below.
http://isharethese.blogspot.in/2015/01/faces-of-india-196.html
Through this blog posts on different faces of india, i get to meet different people of india, who are somewhere running through the hardships of life. This series is a nice way of sharing about strangers whom we meet everyday but forget about them moment we pass them. Such documenting is also a nice way of depicting our diverse emotions, culture, dresses etc
Hey Amar, That is a very telling picture in the post! nice one 🙂
OMG!THIS:”) It makes me oh-so-proud!,and some more:”)Such a huge success,such PRIDE! #Overwhelmed! I solemnly swear that I WILL attend EVERY IndiMeet from now onwards!
p.s:Did I mention how PROUD I am to be a part of IB?Oh,verry!
Hi Sagarika, LOL looking forward to seeing you at every IndiMeet! 🙂
Oh bythe way..favorite blogpost?-there are many,none of which come to mind right now!-__- So,I think I’ll stick to the one announcing my first ever win,in a contest called My College Diaries,,my current favorite!http://www.myyatradiary.com/2014/11/my-college-diary-contest-cash-prizes.html and,one of mine,which is oh-so-close to my heart,http://123sag.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/atharvacha-raja-being-marathi/ (Not narcissism guys,these are just the first things that came to my mind)*wink wink*
Both great posts and I dont think its bad that you like one of your posts. The posts that you write are probably much closer to you! 🙂
I have attended only one Indiblogger meet and it was a superb and inspiring experience.
Is it possible to feel nostalgic about something one has never experienced? Because that seems to be the best word to describe how I felt as I read about, saw pics and videos of the many indiblogger meets that I’ve missed.
Waiting for the next Mumbai meet…
As for my favourite blog post, I knew it had to be one of the Haiku. Thanks to this, I read and re-read all the haiku. And…
Cycle of life – haiku
http://mightieroption.blogspot.in/2014/10/cycle-of-life-autumn-haiku.html
is my favourite.
Hi Nimi, I guess it is possible to feel a bit of nostalgia on something you have never experienced. maybe you lived that experience through some one else! 🙂
This is one of my favourite posts because it shows my nature.
https://icecandy16blog.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/handle-with-care/
Hey Anita, That post does say a lot about you! Nice one 🙂
First of all, Great Job, Indiblogger team! You guys have created a community like no other.
Ever since I joined Indiblogger, I’d been reading about the meets that happen half way around the world and feeling envious about the people who get to meet the bloggers they had connected with online. I’d been hoping to attend a Bangalore meet sometime while I was visiting. I’ve been here for a few months now, but missed the mark on the Asus meet that happens later this week :(.
About my favourite post–
I’ve been promoting my Travel blog for a while now but the posts that are close to my heart are on my personal blog. I’m not sure I can pick a favourite, as such. But there’s a post that I wrote in one go because the emotions just kept flowing and I just kept writing until I just had to make an abrupt stop, that one does stand out — http://dnambiar11.blogspot.in/2012/01/of-mommy-guilt-and-adultseparation.html
Hey nambiar, You echo the feelings of many who live away from india. That is sad that you are missing the Bangalore event but keep in touch maybe we can host a meet whereever you are! 🙂
Hey Anoop,
I’m in town at the moment. And I got an invite for the upcoming meet. So, so thrilled. 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
My favoriteis the post that I wrotein my sons 12th birthday and the play station 2 cake. http://baketitude.blogspot.in/2012/01/play-station-2-cake-happy-birthday.html?m=0
the feeling of accomplishment was so intense…I have made many more cakes and written many more blog posts, but the effort it took to write this was gut wrenching. And deeba rajpal commented on it…
hey Shalini, WOW! that is a freaking awesome cake and you are the best mom in the whole wide world if you got or baked that for your son. The guys at IndiBlogger play mortal Kombat with these controllers and they said that they wanted the cake birthday or not! he he
And about the indimeets unfortunately I have never been in metros… but April this year onwards I move to Mumbai. ..and I will attend the indimeets.
Hey Shalini, Yes the bane of the commercial world .. Its tough to get meets across to those places but we havent stopped trying!
I guess the ones where you didn’t register don’t count 😛
Yes bro, if you didnt register our ststs guy gets confused and you only exist as a ghost! 🙂
Yay….the IndiBlogeshwaris rock the top 3 slots. Ain’t we awesome or ain’t you lucky? I’ll go equal on that one 😀
We love our Indimeets! And, yes, you guys, too. Hugs wala love. <3
Hey Blogwati! Nice to hear from you! thanks we love you too! 🙂
More than 8 years ago , when i was “still ” a little kid trying to get over my crushes and umpteen no of rejected proposals, I began to write a small on Understanding woman
http://karthikmurali.blogspot.in/2006/12/understanding-women.html
It did manage to rack up some controversial ( i mean hateful ) and also some sympathetic comments from the opposite gender
Some even managed to burst out laughing post reading it
When I look back at this post, I don’t know how much I agree with it now , but I feel I am still attached to this post by a great deal , and always bookmarked in my comp 🙂
So definitely a “Blog Now, Live Forever” post 🙂
Hey Karthik, LOL the best posts are controversial man! Yeah I too say things that arent meant to be said but hey, if thats the way you felt at the time, then thats the way it is. No point bottling it up 🙂
Hi, My favorite blog post of all time and which won me a HP Sleekbook is http://www.thelifesway.com/2013/04/hpconnectedmusic-me-myself-and-music.html which I wrote for Indiblogger HP meet in Delhi. I joined Indiblogger in April 2013 and in May I got this laptop. I was flying in the air and it’s the best I have ever won on the Indiblogger community. Last year (2014) I was not in India and didn’t win anything at all for any of my posts but this year (2015) I have started focusing once again on Happy hours and other contests coming our way. I do miss Indimeets and wants to be in them soon after I come back to India. Till that time, I am enjoying my time on Indiblogger network and getting some more badges for my blog! That’s The Life’s Way – Cheers!!!
Hey Aashih! yea I remember this one. It was good fun man. I remember when you first started you have a very few posts but now .. dang it! I see like hundreds! good on you! 🙂
Wow! I wish I had started blogging in 2008. Then 100% attendance mein mera bhi naam hota! 😀
I am so excited to now attend my first IndiMeet/Blogger’s Meet in Bangalore!
Coming over to the question – Well like a mother of my blog – all posts are dear to me but yes, I do have a favorite. This is the one that a lot of readers liked as well cos people can relate to it.https://happinessandfood.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/please-dont-ask-me/
Please dont ask me – tells my readers that I am not a mother and may be I won’t ever get there. I want others to stop asking me that question every time. I feel I am BIG enough to decide for myself. Indians get too personal with such questions and through this post I have described the 10 questions I hate being asked.
Also, this post was a response to IndiSpire and I totally loved penning it!
Hey Parul, I too wanted to attend every IndiBlogger meet and I have except for the Vodafone meet where I had to do a meet on the very same day in New York. I still count that as 100% attendance though! 🙂
As for your post. Even i get so irked when people ask these questions .. it wasnt even 6 months after I got married that people would ask me “Any Good News”.. No you twit! did you flunk biology??.. sorry.. I rant he he
Reading Weekly diary is great fun 🙂
Hey thanks TG! 🙂
I started blogging sometime in Feb 2012. After quitting my job to attend to my family, blogging kept me going and in touch with the outside world.
My favorite blog post is
http://www.assortedideas.in/2013/05/winning-arguments-is-not-real-victory.html
This was the first story that I wrote. It inspired me to write more and when I received compliments and encouragement from people, I discovered a new aspect to my persona. I decided to pursue ahead in this new found path, which, till date has been fulfilling and engaging.
Hey Aparna, Blogging is a great way to keep yourself occupied and no doubt a great way to make like minded friends. I sometimes feel I hate half the people on my facebook page. But with blogging I get people who really want to talk about what I am interested in. Definitely a great way to keep in touch. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Joining Indi bloggers was the best decision I have made. It is cause of this site I feel like writing even more then I did before. My recent blog written for you guys as a part of a contest in which I mentioned Dwayne Johnson actually got me his attention on Twitter he said he loved it. It’s all thanks to you guys http://rubinac.blogspot.in/2015/01/this-valentine-day-pop-question.html?m=1
hey Rubina! That is quite amazing for Dwayne Johnson to take notice and not just because he has my second name “Johnson” 🙂 Do you have the link of that tweet?
Congratulations IB Team on organizing and running successfully these blog events. 16th February- the day which holds importance in your life and mine too. Well, it is the beautiful day on which my Mom was born 🙂
The stats for the events are overwhelming and shows the increase of love in bloggers for Blogging and its events! Just amazing. Also, the guests were amazing too! Hope to be a part of the blogging event when it will be organized in Mumbai.
Well, coming to the best blog post, it would be “Life how you perceive it” for me. The post was inspired by an autistic child whose perception of a question amazed his teachers to define a completely new outlook towards life. I personally feel that the post is worth a read and would influence and inspire anyone who takes life as a pessimist. When we start thinking about aspects and circumstances in an optimistic way, life would turn out to be simple and beautiful!
Also, this post of mine had received a good amount of responses and feedback from bloggers and readers alike. It was also selected and published on “The Authors’ Blog”
Read it here : https://painttheworldwithwords.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/life-is-how-we-perceive-it-2/
I hope you enjoy reading it & All the best with the upcoming Bangalore Event!
Regards,
Amreen Shaikh
Hey Amreen, a wonderful post! it was quite intriguing! The stats do show a significant increase in interest in meeting up.. good for every bloggeer I guess! 🙂
This was a great read. It was nice to know the history behind the meets and how you guys are doing it just for the love of it and not for any monetary considerations.
Now, as far as my favourite blog post is concerned, there are just too many to consider. I have read far and wide, reaching into the deep recesses of the Internet. It’s hard to choose just one.
One website that’s close to my heart (and mind) is http://www.lesswrong.com. The site hosts many articles and posts which have changed my outlook towards life. I’d suggest to start with this post: http://lesswrong.com/lw/2bu/your_intuitions_are_not_magic/
Being a rationalist and freethinker is not easy, but once you get past the initial hurdles, you can enjoy the finer points of life (and deride the horrifying) much better.
Hey Salman, Thats exactly why we do events regardless of anything else 🙂 Hey and that’s a nice site too! Thanks for sharing
Well I like anunoy’s witty writings.http://anunoys.blogspot.in/2015/01/ill-be-proposing-to-my-crush-on.html?showComment=1422195069334#c1702152025393052429
Hey Rio! Thanks for the share! The language in the post is really worth taking time out to read! 🙂
How many times shall I re-iterate that IndiDiary is an awesome addition to IndiB?
Well, I think it goes unsaid. 🙂
Good to see a statistician’s delight, that this edition has turned out to be. Also to see Mister, making his mark for having neared the 100% attendance mark in IndiMeets. 😀
(Teacher’s terms, with attendance and the kind… :P)
I must mention that I really like the idea of restricting the crowd at Meets with the FCFS HH factor. I can say this for Delhi at least.
We would also have to learn to ‘bag’ a seat for the Meet, by being on our fingertips.
Welcome change, this.
—
Coming to this week’s question…
My favorite post (of all-time) HAS to be this…
http://stiryoursouls.blogspot.in/2013/05/freeze-frame-happiness-maze-into-memory.html
The reason? You’ll find a two-teethed girl, rendered in monochrome.
Do I need to say more? 😀
Also, this post was one of my blog’s baby posts. AND it formed the basis for my association with Arti and her fabulous Yatra Diary, which is an association I’ll cherish for long… 🙂
—
As you said, IB’s Event Season is back…
Looking forward to a pleasant season on Delhi’s front, both in terms of informative and fun events, and blogging as well.
Hey Thanks Poonam! you can keep saying it though :-D. Yeah and the way seats get filled up is quite frightening and translates into pressure for us everytime but teh good sort of pressure 🙂
Hey nice post as well!
While there are a number of posts I hold dear to, the best one, one that I always take as an example to show how book reviews are to be written, is the review of Dev Anand’s Autobiography Romancing with Life by Jai Arjun
Link: http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2007/10/romancing-with-life-review.html
Hey Narasimha, Thanks for sharing you favorite post! and it does sound fantastic 🙂
Indian bloggers wouldn’t have taken blogging this seriously if not for you guys. I can see IB covering the entire globe in a few years from now. Not exaggerating, we would soon hear Indiblogger meets happening in the US or Europe.
The coming meet is going to be my first Indimeet. Though it requires of me to travel from Chennai, I am going to make it just to get infected at least once with the IB blood!
My favourite blogpost on my blog is ‘Coffee Lovers’ because:
https://pagesfromserendipity.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/coffehe-lovhers-a-valentines-day-special/
#1 When I landed in Chennai after marriage, I decided to try for a writing job, inspired by blogging of course. I come from a Science background and the only mention of a writing experience on my resume was my blog URL. I did get a call and the creative head who interviewed me said I am offered this position solely based on this blog post. (I had to manage their blog page & social media pages, a matrimony site). And thus this post officially crowned me as a writer!
#2 It was the first time I discovered I could write humour as well.
#3 And the highest commented post on my blog till date.
Hey Nandhini, It will be great to take IndiBlogger to the world. Everyone else is already noticing this and thanks for the vote of confidence 🙂
And WOW! getting a job by writing a post! I am glad for you taht someone noticed. Maybe we should send your employer a “Blog Now, Live Forever” mug then? 🙂
yahoo, I am getting mugged again!! and I’m lovin it. 🙂
Hey parwati, I still laugh at that comment he he
My favorite blog post is http://pratikshya-magicmoments.blogspot.in/2013/12/in-my-dreams.html
In this post she talks about dreams; dreams that are an enigma. She tries to interpret dream with ample examples. Simply I love this post. Never before I had given a second thought to dreams and after reading it I’m also curious to decipher some of my own dreams. 🙂
Hey Arpita, Great post! I live it because dreams are like my favorite things to dwell on. I get some recurring dreams at times and I just love them .. sometimes they are nightmares but I love them more! 🙂
This was one of the best blog posts I have read, EVER!! You are an amazing writer Anoop Sir! 🙂
Coming to my favorite blog post of all time, it’s this>>
http://www.stilettomaniac.com/2013/06/we-chat-via-wechat.html
Apart from the fact that it won me a Macbook(who needs any other reason :P), it’s near and dear to my heart for a HUNDRED more reasons!
This post brought me closer to myself. I made some real amazing blogger friends who are near and dear to me today, thanks to this post!
Today, whenever I am struck with writer’s block and just don’t have any inspiration to blog, I open this post and read it along with the lovely 80+ comments from my readers. Always lifts my spirits and inspires me to blog!
One more special thing which this post gave me was my mother’s blessings! When I won this contest, and broke the news to her, that proud look in her eyes… will always preserve that :'(
This post was like a lucky charm for me, after which my life started reaching new heights!
To sum up, this post is as near and dear to me as I am to myself!! 😀 Thank you for everything Indiblogger!! I really really love you all!!
hey Bushra, Thanks for teh contsnt source of encouragement and I also see you went to my personal blog. please dont go there again 😀
And OMG that is a lot of work on your post for wechat.., How long did it take you to write it I wonder! 🙂
I loved writing for Women Safety in ZEE DID Season 4 launch and https://husbanddiaries.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/indiblogger-dance-india-dance-4-dance-it-out/ this is my favorite post as I won great after meet prize as Philips boombox. I do try to blog whenever I can. I also loved writing for Winning to win India Today Conclave but lost there. It gave me another perspective as I learned to lose 😛 Thanks!
Hey Shradha, A lot of peoples favorite posts seem to be from IndiBlogger Meets! 🙂 DID is one of my favorite events of all time. It was magic and the “celeb” dancers were really down to earth and it made a big difference! Great post!
Bless you guys who started IB and thank me for being here.. (Oh! my thoughts are visible here !) lol ..
Feeling so glad to be a part of IB and looking forward for my first IndiMeet …yay…
As for the post,well.. to find good among the Best ?:P
Uh-Oh ! No narcissism only brutal honesty ;p
Consciously avoiding the seroius ones (?) I grudgingly pick out two-
http://sunshineandblueclouds.blogspot.in/2014/03/who-is-this-man.html
as it shows that life is hilarious even, at the hardest times(as I post indirectly tells who has to wake through the night with the hyper active baby?)
And
http://sunshineandblueclouds.blogspot.in/2014/12/haiku.html
it asserts,I have that fire in me…err… in my words ;P *wink-wink* 😀
hey thanks Kokila! Hope you had fun at the meet! 🙂
Check out @TheRock’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/559017214322307073?s=09 hey anoop here is the tweet 🙂 I haven’t stopped smiling since then
That is a great tweet! very honest it seems 🙂
Hey Anoop!
Interesting stats. Rather ‘groundbreaking’, it clearly reflects the change IndiBlogger has brought about in the blogging community and in the very lives of bloggers. We’re touched by IB. 🙂
Yaaay! Happy to see my name in the winners list for last week question. Thank you for that! Though it will be great if you rather send the mug instead of the magnet since I’ve got no refrigerator in my room, but I do give my office’s coffee machine a run for the beans and milk. 😛
Coming to this week’s question, my all-time favorite blog post in my blog is https://cruxrebels.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/my-quests-in-life/ because in many ways it’s just an amalgamation of all my To-Do sticky notes. The status/progress for each activity is continuously updated by me. Basically it keeps me in sync with my short/long term goals and helps me focus on my utility value. More or less, this list has made me.
Now, going by stats, I’d dare to share another one that is dear to me and most visited on my blog, but in this case it’s a poetry which garnered a great response from my readers: https://cruxrebels.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/all-the-worlds-a-stage/ (Just for light reading, you know 😛 )
Happy to know about the upcoming Bangalore meet, though I wished IB would host it on weekends. Tough to reach ITC Gardenia which is 17 kms from office during peak traffic hour. See you and others at the meet. Hope I make it. 🙂
Hey abhishek, Those are big compliments and we’ll take it 🙂 Poetry does seem to get a traction .. Is ot only amongst friends or do the general public look at it? I never saw myself as the type who would wake up in the morning and yearn for poetry!.. interesting 🙂
Nice stats… I have just attended a single Indiblogger meet in Chennai and this Friday would be my second one.
Though all my writings are precious for me but the one which I fall in love every time I read is- Love Arranged
https://himaniagarwal.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/love-arranged/
Thats because its my own story though fictionalized 😛
Hey Himani, How was the meet for you? I dare ask as your expectations must have been quite high to travel down! 🙂
Hey Anoop,
the meet was good, I have written my views on it here-
https://himaniagarwal.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/asus-indiblogger-meet-a-jist/
I need not have to travel as I relocated to Bangalore some time back, Lucky me 😀 yet not so lucky as I was thinking of getting a t-shirt of my size this time. Last time it was too big 😛
And ya I am still waiting for the twitter results
Anyways thanks for the reply, hope you give me mug this time 😉
I’ve recently registered on IndiBlogger and already feel bad about having missed all those meets. No meets are organised in my city and there arent many bloggers here too.
My favorite blogpost is – http://radhika-feelingfree.blogspot.com/2013/12/i-happy-thanks-to-u_25.html
It was written to thank everyone who have been there in my life at anytime and now that list includes the Inditeam too! 😀
It’s feels great to be a part of this community! 🙂
Hey Radhika, Thanks a bunch! And Not to worry! There should be more meets soon.
Hi Team,
There are a bunch of comments already and depressing and moving posts. So I don’t really think this post has a chance. But it is utterly beautiful. A dad who is too scared and dreading the moment when his daughter would go out on a “first date”. So he takes things in his hand, and asks out his 4-year-old.It is so beautiful,it makes me cry. 🙂
Even if not for the contest, read and relish 🙂
http://kindnessblog.com/2015/01/27/an-open-letter-to-my-daughter-on-her-first-date-by-scott-dannemiller/
ha ha Shameem.. Great meeting you at the IndiMeet this weekend! Nice post!
I enjoyed reading about the Indimeets stats. Also happy that after quite a gap we are having an Indimeet in Bangalore. My favorite indimeets from the ones that I have attended were the Nokia and the HP meets.
One of my favorites among my own posts is this tongue-in-cheek post about bloggers and their families: http://www.rachnaparmar.com/2014/02/ode-bloggers-family.html
Thanks for the magnet and for the wonderful IndiDiary edition again.
Hey Rachna! Sorry i got confused you were from Mumbai .. even if its been a while I felt I had seen u=you very recently. One of those faces me guess! 🙂
So this’ll be my twelfth Indiblogger meet (the ASUS one), and I can’t wait to attend 🙂 Anoop and Renie, a suggestion for the future though… an afternoon meet, 3 to 7:30 or so, on a weekend, would have been better. 🙂 My favorite meet was the SURF meet, for the timings, and the fun that we had with games and such.
Favorite blog post is this one, which is a fiction. http://artofleo.com/2011/04/03/the-journey/
Hey man! i always look to you for some honest opinions ! how was the meet from your side?
Well, I will share Shankar Rajaram’s story here who at the age of 60, did the treacherous Kalindi Khal. Inspiring always!
http://www.tarungoel.in/2014/10/14/shankar-rs-himalayan-love-affairthe-great-indian-traveler-spirit-ii/
Hey tarun, Nice post man. thanks for sharing!
These two blogs are very close to my heart.
The first one http://infinitudefeelings.blogspot.in/2014/09/infinity-and-beyond.html depicts my love towards my father.
The second one
http://infinitudefeelings.blogspot.in/2014/11/mumma.html depicts my relationship with mumma.
Hey Anushka, Nice posts! I see the IndiChange badge on your site as well 🙂
oi vey, where did my comment vanish to? :/
Hey sorry was late moderating! 🙂
Wow… these are such incredible stats… I still remember the lone PUNE indiblogger meet I got to attend. It was so long ago and so awesome back then to be a part of it. Sadly, staying in Kerala now, I hardly get to meet any of the others and often feel envious of my fellow bloggers at these meets 🙂
As for fav post, it’s an old one but one I love – my love letter to a girl I have never met http://www.godyears.net/2007/06/to-stranger-i-love.html
Its been a while Roshan, yes, Kerala seems to be left out but maybe we can plan something soon!
The stats show that it has been a amazing journey so far and good to see that i a was part of it somewhere …. Hoping to have more amazing meet ups and fun along with Indiblogger !!
Sharing a post which i feel connects to everyone somewhere in their own difficulties and situations:
http://readersheaven.org/2013/06/19/trapped-in-a-cage/
Hey Aziz, yes its been quite an eventful journey! hey I wrote a song similar to this eventuality, I called it “Living in my crater”. I see we think alike on something 😀
Feel nice to be a an Indiblogger. And the Indiblogger meets just funtastic…:)
This is my all time favorite post and will be thorough out my life
http://ranjana-craft-blog.blogspot.in/2012/03/at-last-dora-bed-sheet-is-completed.html
I had written when I made a quilt for my little monster 🙂
hey Ranjana! LOL! my daughter loves dora too .. Dora back pack and then Diego pencil boxes he he
One amazing indiblogger meet we had last night. Lucky to be in Bangalore, it was the 5th meet or the 6th(?) meet I attended, loosing count already. 🙂
My fav post is: Where do Butterflies go when it Rains?
http://isharethese.blogspot.in/2008/06/where-do-butterflies-go-when-it-rains.html
My fav because one the posts in the first year of my blogging which got more than 50 comments. It was exhilarating for me then.
It was a post where I saw myself saying the same words what my mother told me once! A simple nostalgic incident of my life.
It was an amazing meet! totally agree. Hey you always sem to get crazy number of like and comments. i shall troll you until I find out why! 🙂
Hi,
As with all that indi blogger’s has done so far, this weekly edition also rocks!! Hats off team!
My favorite post is the following link, it’s about someone close to my heart and a memory I wanted to imbibe in my life forever….http://lifesvibes.blogspot.in/2014/07/in-name-of-photograph.html?m=1
Hope you’ll like it… Would love to hear your comments on it.
Thank you
Hey Megha, hey thanks, The weekly edition rocks once in a while. i’ll give you that he he .. As for the story .. i felt scared like there was going to be a car crash at the end or sumpthin! 🙂 Nice one!
I have read such beautiful posts thanks to all the comments up there. But the one post that actually touched me somewhere deep inside my heart was this one- https://leylashah2014.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/a-hijra-in-the-family/
It takes a hell lot of courage to speak your mind. And something more than that to say all that to complete strangers. This post was written anonymously and when you read it, you can actually connect with the pain the writer feels. And I’m pretty sure anybody who reads this will be able to relate to the writer in one way or the other. Also, this post made me realize that we are living in a society that would kill your happiness and ask you live in utter misery instead of letting you take your own decisions and be live in peace with your choices.
I can’t say I hope you like this post. All I can say is I hope you feel the pain and anguish behind these words.
Thank you.
My blog is- sainiurshita.wordpress.com
Hey Urshita, Good to hear from you! yes it definitely does take a lot of courage especially when you tend to be outside the so called “Normal” set of societies many hidden rules .. hmm.. thanks for sharing!
Indiblogger! Why you no keep meets in Kochi 🙁 I the can’t come the meets :/
Seriously, I crave to attend these meets. Really curious to know what happens, plus it is fun meeting fellow bloggers. 🙂
As for my favorite blogpost, it has always been a poem I wrote many years back – The Words of the Lord. Every time I read it, I get inspired. It helps me change my perspective in any kind of situation. I feel close to the power that we call God. Another reason is, till today I don’t know what made me write that poem. I remember the process of thinking, proof reading and writing all my posts, except this. It just came out of the blue.
https://rangelz.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/the-words-of-the-lord/
Hey Rajini, Sorry man about no meets in Kochi. But I think we spoke to some tourism company in Kochi a short while back and they ran away when we said they had to provide participants with snacks and coffee 🙂
This was one of the first story I had ever written when I was In Junior College and I published it on my blog without editing it one bit so that I can reread whenever I could and see how far I have come. And yes, this is the first blog post where I got a comment for the first time. Too many firsts for me you see 😀
http://munniofalltrades.blogspot.in/2013/05/children-and-god.html
Hey khusboo, Nice one from junior college! Its nice when you get a comment! Maybe we should ask people this at some point and see how they felt too! 🙂
@Anoop When should I expect to receive my prize ? (Curious 😛 )
It should be dispatched today or tomorrow man and ask away anytime! 🙂
I joined Indi blogger in March 2013 I guess… when I was participating in write-up cafe contest along with team central where I was forced by other fellow writers to blog instead of posting my poems on face book.. I think the link below was the very first one may be… which I submitted to Indi bloggers and soon I get to know many like me through Indi blogger. I attended my very first Delhi meet of DID and after that there was no looking back…
http://www.shetallsays.com/2013/03/thank-you/
I thank all the Indi bloggers team for giving me and many others like me a platform where we can share our poems, imaginative stories and yes where we can meet likeminded friends too… You guys Rock… btw when is next Delhi bloggers meet? : P
Hey Shetall! Great to hear from you and I know its most exciting to be with some like minded people .. Although I get yelled at quite often, by a whole lotta bloggers .. Its all worth it being honest and such! 🙂 I always feel like my grey cells have learn’t something.
I missed this edition. The IndiMugs are back! 😛
Kolkata has only 3 meets with 66 participants 🙁 That’s so BAD. Please please arrange another meet in Kolkata….I promise I won’t pester you any more after that. 😛
The IB meets are worth it & I enjoy every bit of it.
All thanks to IB Team, Anoop & Nihaal make it even more special with their amazing sense of humor. 😀
I hope all the IB meets after March(b/c Board examinations omg) I don’t wish to miss a single one!
That’s one hell of an analysis IB team. Hope I had my name in there somewhere. Maybe, a few Indimeets later. Organize something in Pune team. Pleaseeeeee……….
My favorite blog post is https://rubysingh147.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/dear-dad/
This has a very special place in my heart because it surfaces the significance of dads in the house which is often ignored under the illumination of moms. I love my father unconditionally irrespective if it is fathers day or not. This is a dedication to him and thus this has a way special place in my heart.
Hope you like it too.
That’s one hell of an analysis IB team. Hope I had my name in there somewhere. Maybe, a few Indimeets later
Wow these are awesome stats.. Sadly I have attended only one blogger meet till now. Await eagerly for the next one though. So for my favorite post. Obviously it has to be something of my own, after all the only reader my blog has is me..:D
https://freemindtree.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/being-an-imdrite.html
The post is a poem on my Alma mater – IMDR, Pune. The reason why it’s my favorite is because this was a poem I had written direct dil-se and didn’t expect much of a response. But to my surprise this poem almost got viral among students across many batches of IMDR.
I really enjoyed that meet 🙂