....and so it began.

Recently, I received an invitation for a Mumbai blogger's meet to be held on the 15th of august 2010. I really felt the urge to be one of them, and started going through the details mentioned there. Venue, Date, time, etc, and finally decided to scroll through the kind of attendees and their blogs, so as to get an idea of what kind of people would be expected there so I don't feel out of place.

Sitting for my cup of tea, I was anticipating what kind of conversations I would have...IN CASE I decided to go there. That thought sprung me back to 2 years back, when I used to have conversations with my friend Andy and my Sister Mansi about what blogging was all about, and what topics I could possibly write on. Those were the days when blogging was the In-Thing, and celebrities had recently started networking with us oh-so-humble fans on various networking sites, twitter, blogs, etc.

Before I start rambling about my initial days as a blogger, I wanted to share the first reason I started writing in the first place. My sister Mansi had started her blogging @ http://shubbhi.blogspot.com/ and as a curious bug, I had read it for a little insight on what blogging is all about. She explained to me the whats and hows of the whole idea, and I realized that this is where I could probably satisfy my urge to express. Of course..After a lot of Dos and Don'ts about what I should be careful about on these things, I decided to register myself and wrote my first blog on 24th September 2008.


I remember writing diaries during my college days and they used to be like everything I felt. With working parents, I had a lot of free time on my hands to keep thinking to myself and quite frankly....writing them down helped me get it out of my system. That's how I started blogging about various thoughts I used to get. Book reviews, my frustrations with the news channels, Critics, Emotional outbreaks, Childhood memories, personal conflicts, etc etc etc.

Did you ever have a feeling that your mind is a continuous machine which keep chattering all day, but you just don't pay enough attention to it?? I used to feel like that and I used to keep looking for the mute button of the damn thing...blogging helped me mute those thoughts and gave me an outlet.

I didn't know that people's comments really mattered on blogs, until I spoke to my blog-guidance-counsellor 'Andy' and he tried to drill to me the importance of other people 'appreciating' what we write. (I still don't get the whole idea of "getting appreciated") HAHA. There was a time in my blogging phase when I started writing on topics that people would be interested in reading. In fact, I did write some vague posts on the same, eg. ARK, to read this blog press #1, Women's dictionary, etc. But after few of these posts, I realized the mute button of the thoughts in my mind stopped working. I couldn't get rid of the thoughts that kept crowding my brain. I spoke to Andy about it, and realized that I need to get back to the reason I started blogging in the first place. and So I did.


Anyways, I could keep writing a lot on my reasons and ideas of blogging, and my continuous debate with my friends on whether we should write on topics that we want to, or topics that we feel will attract most comments??? I am sure, at some point of time or another, you must have gone through this phase of your blogging as well, and tried to find reasons why you write?

What do you think?? Don't worry...I am not trying to attract comments, but I think it's time we all gave it a thought. I leave you with that question on your chattering mind.

Until next time....Happy Friendship day, and Ciao..!!!!

Trip down memory lanes...in the rains

Hi all,

I know its been a long time since I posted something here, but life has been really busy lately and I have been literally feeling like on a roller coaster ride since last one year with so many things changing around and within me.

The sole reason for me to write this post today is the weather outside.I have always been a die-hard romantic, and monsoon just brings out the creative side of me. So I thought, what better time to write than the season of romance and beauty.

I know a lot of people crib about a traffic, mud, puddles, wet clothes, power cuts, and lots of other things that don't seem to work in this season, but no matter what happens, I can't seem to avoid enjoying this weather.

One thing that rainy season always reminds me of, is my childhood. We used to have a terrace flat with a wooden swing and pots of plants all around. Our terrace used to look out to a mountain with small huts on them (accessories in Mumbai that we call 'slums'). First few days of rains used to make that mountain filled with dwellings, look like a rain forest with drops of color smudged on them on purpose.

Its used to be a sight to see and If i was old enough to handle a camera, I would have definitely clicked pictures to capture every year's rain. It was some kind of family tradition to get drenched in the first rain all together and we all used to cherish those times together when it was raining heavily and wind was blowing and the family used to be all cuddled up under the roof that held the swing. The memories of those days still brings a smile on our faces and that location is closely associated with my memory of rainy season of initial years.

As I was growing up, the meaning of rain changed for me. During school days, heavy rains used to mean holidays for us, and the excitement of staying home, watching T.V. and playing with friends all day used to add to the fun element. We used to love in a neighborhood where children from all buildings used to be friends and we used to have a group that gathered on the society terrace for playing games like football and classic games like 'hide and seek' and 'catch me if you can'. I am sure that bruises in rains and catching cold during those days make a small part of every child's memory.

Unfortunately, as I got into college and career, job, friends, social life and obligations made me take rains for granted. the 5 years of BPO life somehow took me away from the day view of the rainy season. However, I still remember the day when heavy floods got us stuck in the office for 3 days. We had all slept in the office with 2 chair becoming our royal bed and the few foam beds giving comfort to our Oh-So-Special agents. Unlimited flow of tea, biscuits, and sandwiches was what we had to avoid dehydration of our agents with energy and thirst. It was a definite memorable rainy season of my adult life.

 

These days, rainy season has a new meaning for me, and that is something every girl who is newly in a relationship experiences. Even though the feeling is different from person to person, it's difficult to describe the effect that this season has on people in relationship. I now understand why rainy season is mostly associated with 'Romance' in Novels and Movies. I am still getting over the feeling of this season's monsoon, so maybe my photo-blog will have some clicks from the season this year. Do visit for sharing my view on the Monsoon in Mumbai.

I hope this post helps you re-collect some of your old memories of rainy season. Feel free to share in the comments anytime.

Hopefully see you soon with a new post.