Saturday, June 15, 2013

A double century

What with the heat in Delhi keeping me for walking and a trek that will demand a lot from my lungs and legs, I feel woefully ill-prepared. So, in the spirit of the times, I shall do a virtual walk through my blogging days and assume that it shall help me in my all too real trek.

I know it is customary to do this 'blogging journey' post on the anniversary of the blog. The issue is confused for me, however, as is most of my life. Having started blogging in 2009 and written 21 posts with no more readership than my own eager visits to see if anyone had actually come around - yes, I was tracking my own page-views those days - I summarily abandoned blogging and re-started only in 2012 when I joined Indiblogger and started blogging in real earnest. Now, which of those dates is the anniversary date and how many years should I consider? The question is too burdensome and, thus, I am doing my walk through my blogging in my 200th post.

The shade more than a year of active blogging has been very kind to me. I always thought I wrote humor but invariably failed to laugh at any of my own posts when reading them. It was nice to know that there were a lot of others in the world who considered what I wrote humorous. There were so many kind people in the world coming around to comment on my posts that I even was enthused into indexing my posts. The tags on top of the blog - Humor, TreksNTravels, Fiction, Philosophy, Others - lead you to the indexes of that classification of posts. The fact is that - bar Philosophy - almost all my posts are written in what I consider my humorous style. Posts under Others, sub-classified as Blogging are mostly related to blog awards and have a surfeit of biographical information - so much so I never felt the need to ever write the customary "About Me' section.

Blogging also lead me to write for a few short story contests and, now, I have a short story published in the collection "Uff Ye emotions". What is more, a social media ignoramus like me now owns up to a Facebook page for my blog - Life is Like This. I am yet to go beyond into the uncharted waters of Twitter and all but, who knows, where else blogging will take me?

The best part of blogging for me is that it has brought me in touch with wonderful people. Meeting bloggers regularly in Bangalore and, now, finding bloggers in other cities like Delhi making the effort to meet is such a warm feeling.

From the day I started blogging again in 2012, blogging has taken me - in real life as well - through different and exciting paths. I look forward to more of it in the days to come. If, in the meantime, I have given a few of my readers a few enjoyable moments at least, I can hope that some of you will be with me on that journey to make things altogether more appealing.

34 comments:

  1. Happy journey ahead, Suresh; both for your blogging and trekking.

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  2. It has been a pleasure reading you and interacting with you, Suresh. Yes the greatest joy of blogging is in connecting with a diverse set of like-minded folks. Wish you luck in this journey to continue churning out interesting posts. And have fun on your trek, Melting man :).

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    1. Thanks Rachna - most especially for considering my posts interesting :)

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  3. Cheers for the first 200! Best wishes for the next 200!

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    1. Thanks Rickie! I need to do with quantity what my betters do with quality :)

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  4. Was great meeting you Suresh. Are you stopping over at Delhi on your way home? How about meeting?

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    1. I reach Delhi on 24th morning and leave on 25th night, Ritu! In what shape the trek will leave me remains to be seen so cannot promise myself the pleasure of meeting you again.

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  5. Suresh Happy journey ahead. I started blogging in almost same time. An year before that I saw my manuscripts along with my belongings flowing in flash flood of Teeesta due to cloudburst. i had no pain for my belongings but for my write ups. It then occurred to me to post them in blog although I knew blogs are not meant for that. But let at least some few people read. To tell you frankly I have an actual reader of 7 to 10 who read but tell their comments verbally over phone.
    You write very nice and for me it requires reading it over and over again to understand the inner meaning. Once again best wishes.
    Dr. P.K.Biswas

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    1. Thanks Pradip! I am sure that time will bring a lot of appreciative readers to you.

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  6. Congrats on the milestone. Your posts are hilarious and they way you convert misery into humor is remarkable. I wish I could get hold of the book as many of my friends' work is in it. Also, you are so right, the best part of blogging is to meet so many wonderful people.

    Sorry about the Delhi heat. I lived on top floor during load shed with no power backup, So I know how bad it can get :)

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    1. Thanks Saru! Back in delhi again :( Btw, I lived here for 18 years, so I should have known what to expect :)

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  7. Its been quite some time since I last landed here but I could not miss this post! 200 posts is quite an achievement and I wish you all the best for the future!

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  8. Your posts are absolutely enjoyable, thought provoking and hilarious Suresh. Great to have met you (virtually of course :D ) on Blogosphere and do let us know what the sadhus said about your jokes from an indolent melting mind :D

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    1. This time the skies and the mountains melted instead, depriving the sadhus of my 'wit' :) Let us see if we can meet in real life in the music season at chennai.

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  9. I didn't realize my double century was complete until I had 202 posts up. Guess I did it with a boundary?

    Anyways, congratulations and keep blogging :)

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  10. and miles of blog posts to go before you retire, Suresh! Kudos and good luck!

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    1. Hope so, Malini, and hope I do not drive off readers with each post :)

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  11. I feel, writing changes you as a person. You start observing more, become more sensitive and learn so much.

    Of course, the icing on the cake is the wonderful people we connect with.

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    1. Quite true all of that Purba! Hope the change in me is for the better - though there a lot of people who would say that any change can only be an improvement :)

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  12. Congratulations of the double ton. I have been an infrequent visitor here in recent times but have always loved the humour in your posts. Good to know you published your first book.

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    1. One short story in a collection, Ramakant! Of course, one more than I ever did before.

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  13. Virtual life needs lots of conscious interaction. Glad to meet you on the way :)
    Happy journey!

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    1. Thanks Uma! Hope I can continue to keep you engaged virtually :)

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  14. Hope you're not in the Himalayas right now? I remember reading a previous post on your blog. Good luck with your journeys and stay safe!

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    1. Back and safely, thanks to a great deal of luck.

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  15. Suresh, I hope you do not forget people like us who, in your early days of blogging, had to take a Quiz every time you posted something to prove that we read your blogs ;)

    I think I speak for all of them when I say I am more happy about your widening readership then you probably are :)

    On to a 1000!

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    1. Sure you are happy - I do not pester you as much these days :)

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  16. Congrats, Suresh. I have been making good use of your absence and consolidating my lead over you. You will probably not overtake me this year. Maybe next year you will.

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    1. Well - will be while I think before I master this laptop to get back to full flow :)

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