rajeshvora’s blog

This is a classic case of what-is-near-us-doesnt-interest us. I have seen bangloreans not meet each other until I met one and then they scrambled to meet each other. I am not sure about mumbaikars too.. but I doubt if any would have met face to face. Somehow being away from a far-off place has its advantages. My iLand friends were gracious enough to accept my request to meet them, whether it be Bangalore, Chennai or Mumbai or even Ahmedabad for that matter. (Hyderabad is on my radar too friends .. )

Yes, I have met iLand friends at all these places. The latest meeting of iLanders was in Mumbai. I met three of my friends last week.

Dr. Shweta Iyengar ' (http://shwetu.rediffiland.com) and
Dr. Vishal Rathod ' (http://keval23.rediffiland.com)
And another friend was
Tina Rohra ' (http://mactile11.rediffiland.com)

All are veteran bloggers on iLand and we have been actively interacting and reading each others blogs. One common denominator between us was all of us have a common companion-cum-friend called humor. When I asked them that since I was coming to Mumbai, would it be possible for all of us to meet. And they readily agreed. Thank you friends. I met the Docs separately and Tina separately.

Its always exciting to meet the person behind an URL face to face. You may have spoken to that person, exchanged mails, sms, scraps everything .. but the face to face meeting has its own charm.

Dr. Shweta writes great blogs ' short, crisp and prompts you to think. "Understanding the way ppl think" is listed in her list of interests. And she means it too. A regular blogger with spontaneous writing. And a self confessed workaholic. Loves to play pranks on people and live life to the fullest. Never a dull moment with her. Judging by the way she waved to people in the mall that we had met, I think she can stand for the next MLA election in Thane/Mulund. She must be knowing half the population there by their first names. J

She wears jeans/tops to her clinic(she told me that). I said that I wouldnt come to or trust a doc if my doc was like her. She is more like a model disguising herself as a doctor. That's our great doc for you. Mulund is infested with kutchis and I was a bit apprehensive if I bump into any of my relatives with this Doc in tow . All sorts of gossip would start flowing . Ha ha ha .

Dr.Vishal Rathod is quite a recent find for me. And boy am I glad. Both of us share a lot of common interests. Very soft spoken. But packs a punch with his typical sense of humour which I have fallen in love with. He has also put up a post of our meeting and would suggest my friends to read it.

He says that laughter is the best medicine and he blogs to spread it. Vishal believe me.. don't say this to others if laughter could cure most of the diseases.. then all the docs would go broke you aint supposed to reveal all the trade secrets. He loves playing football and practices daily. Man, my image of seeing doctors has gone under a major overhaul. All for the better. Doctors who love playing pranks, doctors who play football and above all doctors who blog . (I have a few more doctors on my iLand infact 5 of my 35 friends are doctors and they are all regular bloggers .) Gosh

Tina Rohra ' a very sweet girl. Has been blogging for almost a year now . A highly under-rated blogger and poet. She writes very beautiful poems . Very simple but great poems which you will like at the first instance. I constantly had to remind, infact once a week or so, to post a blog and she will oblige by posting a very beautiful poem. She confesses that she had never written poems in her life before, so that makes it all the more better….. her poems are great. (infact many of non-regular bloggers would know it by now that if they don't blog I am sure to leave a reminder on their guest book . by way of requesting, prodding, egging, cajoling and if nothing else works, even giving 'dhamkis' if anybody is offended by my antics like this I am extremely sorry)

Would also love to meet my other iLand friends when I get a chance. And my friends coming over here are also most welcome to meet me.

(thanks to all my friends for their wishes on my bday . )

Hi friends.. I am back with the observations posts.. and the latest victims are Lakshmi and Ash ..

First take on Lakshmi http://lovablel.rediffiland.com

As the name itself suggests.. she is loveble laks and always cheerful and chirpy Has posted her first blog on 10.4.06. A funny anecdote on yamraaj and a shairi do the honours the first day.. and what a way to start blogging the shairi is a definite recommend from me . Just too good follows up on 15.4.06 with some shairies. Jokes and Moi Thoughts were posted on 17.4.06.. I particularly liked the latter and it was very good. Two more posts ' one each on 18.4.06 and 19.4.06 . "its only words" posted on 18^th is great and "its all about strategy" is just simply great.. it has comments running all the way upto the next month.. way to go laks (hey laks, sorry for concatenating ur name, but I like it that way.. its sweeter..) In the age of full digitization and animation and graphics, you will find her avatar refreshingly different ' a hand painted one at that. I like ur avatar very much laks.

One of my personal favorites posted on 2.5.06 ' "The Qu'est" ' Laks.. I would like to tell you .. this one was one of the bestest posts I liked on ur iLand really and also wish to thank you for posting your intro the next week..

Guys, I was flabbergasted.. somewhere during that time she used to write in half a dozen languages and spring surprises with new ones added every week.. laks please do clear my doubt atleast now how many Indian (or for that matter foreign) languages do you actually know..? I would like to know that and of all the things she knows my mother tongue too I was stunned that day when I came to know that.. stunned but quite happy.. at that Another touching post on 10.5.06 titled "Friends". And another on 21.5.06 ' "Don't Look Back" ' both are great posts and definite recommends from me..

A self confessed shairi lover that she is obviously you can expect a dedicated post by her only on shairies which she posted on 28.5.06

But to tell you something beyond her posts.. you have to admit that her comments are great.. she spreads her infectious smile through her comments yes she does.. always cheerful, bright, and full of life.. like a chakli (sparrow in Gujju for the uninitiated). Laks, ur comments on everybodys blogs are just great ' I don't know about others but would like to tell you that they just make up my day.. thanks a ton for all the support and time that u have spent on my iLand..

The time now is 08.30am. I hear my mobile beep. I don't look at the message. I know it's the comment alert tone for the comment which laks has just posted. Ha ha ha. Clocklike precision in posting comments. I get her comment invariably at that time.

And now we come to an iLand very near to the Bermuda triangle the iLand of Ashwini K now now don't tell me Ashwini who? Arrey baba, its our good old Ash (many including me mistook that for Aishwarya) yaar. With interests ranging from, (hey she has edited her list, lemme try the old list too) books, food, movies, extending to Blore, Goa and the English language..Management Gyaan.. Life Gyaan(I have quite a fixation for that term and have used it no. of times.. thanks Ash) and hold ur breath.. Occult Science. I came to know about this Occ only after reading her blog.

http://cognaceyes.rediffiland.com

A url as unique as herself. Enters iLand with a bang Four posts on 15.4.06. All virgin posts, like the kodaikanal woods of the deep.. so planted a comment on each of them "Hum Saath Saath hai" the very next day is well presented .

18.4.06 again heralded with four blogs and all good ones at that for those intending to marry go the the "saptapadi" blog.. those who wud like to improve their Life Gyaan go to "chankya quotes" those who like a humour head straight to "why why why"

19.4.06 welcomes a top post as mentioned on her favourites.. "Go shawty.." a very good post the devil is in the details       26.4.06 has a "row row row a boat.." another good post..     2.5.06 also has her favorite post "Hit..i will miss u.." a small post.. but good one..
on 5.5.06 there's one of my personal favs "Quarter life crisis" would definitely recommend it to u guys her blog on her B'day is also worth reading
22.5.06 ' "oops I lost it again" from now onwards you can see a steady rise in the no. of comments on her blogs the beginning of the era at iLand where the comments are going to hold more action than the  blogs (I sincerely hope ash is not anywhere near here otherwise I am done for). 26.5.06 brought in the much awaited topic of blog ' Occult Science ' Cheiromancy (which didn't catch my fancy, the subject not the blog).
And then onwards the slide in the quantity of blogs starts friends Only three blogs in the entire month of June..
"The little angel" posted a whopping no. of comments ' 76 (as of today). I haven't seen so many comments on any blog before
But then Ash is part of the D-company (divvy, vid, nis etc.). She is the most powerful (wot with all the occultic powers that she possesses and also psychic to a fault) of them. From that time onwards, blogs lost their original purpose of putting on thoughts and ideas Comments were the force to reckon with from now onwards.. blogs acted as the DNA or the building blocks or foundation upon which comments were built (now to meri zubaan hi kat jaayegi.. better wind up this post fast and scram, before ash gets hold of me).

They married im's to blogs and lo you have an asynchronous im ' its not necessary that all be present at the same time. U place ur comment.. the next person comes reads ur comment and places his comment.. and so on, so forth.. Even the rediff guys would not have imagined this ha ha ha. Like I have told her in one of my comments, now I spend more time in reading comments than blogs.. earlier I used to post my comments on blogs never to be there again. But now thnks to them, I have learnt that you have to come back for more She aborted an attempt to change her name sometime back vehement protests followed at iLand . So we have back with us our beloved Ash a.k.a. Ashwini ..
chill maadi,,,, smile maadi…… laugh maadi….
oops not working…….

(lemme run from here before she practices her voodoo magic with the help of her er, zulu companion and zaps me into some unknown animal species on planet earth.)


do visit my previous blog - same difference posted yesterday.

Hi Friends its time for me to continue my observations post and I would like to dedicate this post to Myna and Divya .

Boths iLands are diagonally opposite ' one is on the 84N / 53W and the other is 53S/84E. (hey those nos. mean nothing ' just for time pass)

Myna '   http://memyna.rediffiland.com

First post on 14.3.2006. Starts with a bang on the first day itself posts two posts on that day my suggestion is scroll down straight to the post "Never regret a day in your life"

She follows up with two posts the very next day too. "Parents" post is very very good believe me.. I was in tears I would definitely recommend it to all the youngsters of today to read that post guys, know one thing, we all read such posts and also all kinds of motivational stuff etc.. also make resolutions that from now we will do this and do that just think how many times have we stood by those resolutions why I am telling you this is that you are entering an iLand where you will find lotsa motivational stuff awaiting you believe me this is my second journey to this iLand and wouldn't mind coming here any no. of times She posts 3 posts on 16.3.06. "Life tips", "Psychology" and "Sense of Humour" in the last post the font is very small but do read it

On 17.3.06 she has posted 5 blogs only three days into iLand and she is thoroughly enjoying her outing here I guess there are varied blogs here today.. But I liked "Perfect Peace" a lot

Some of you might have read it already but even then I would definitely recomment the post "SMS with God" posted on 22.3.06. Next post on 24.3.06 ' "Don't Look back" is also a definitely a must read from me

Who would not like to happy well if you really do ' I mean, like to be happy then head straight for this post "ways to be happy" posted on 18.4.06.

Now comes the bestest post that I have ever liked at her place ' "Build the house you live in Tomorrow" posted on 20.4.06.

And so the journey continues friends "anything in this world is possible" posted on 28.4.06 is truly motivational

Now again comes another bestest post ' "Die Alive" (posted on2.5.06) ' a definite recommend to all my friends . Don't you find the topic "Die Alive" itself sufficiently motivating enough to read that post then what are you doing here run (and don't forget to read my comment on that post I shall definitely post what I have promised there but it will take quite some time)

And I am sad to note that her blogs have been diminishing of late. She had posted only four blogs in the last month. Admitting to be going thro a rough patch.. I really, sincerely wish her to overcome that as soon as possible.

There is something about her iLand ' an almost angelic quality to it . I cant describe it fully here in words (now don't ask me the question ' if you are not able to describe then why are you trying to write at all dude?). it has to be felt and experienced..she must be one of the persons who features in most no. Favourites…… yes myna your iLand is one of my favorite destinations at rediff iland would like it a lot more if you post more such posts but would love it more if you don't post at all but overcome all your problems and be as happy as ever (when I mean don't post I meant blogs only you will still have to post comments ) - statement likely to be retracted by popular demand.

Now to head to Divvys iLand .

http://mycorner.rediffiland.com (thank god you told us divya, otherwise we would have thought that it was someone else's corner)

there is one striking similarity to Myna and Divya's iLand. Both started blogging on iLand a day apart from each other. Myna on 14 and Divya on 15 of March. But then the similarity ends there. Divya gave a colorful start at her iLand by wishing everyone happy holi.

Then you are headed for laughter unplugged on her iLand day after day.. Surprisingly all the three posts posted by her on 23.3.06 were virgin posts and couldn't wait to lay my hands on ahem. - the post. All the three are outright funny and you will forget all your worries for sometime.

Then from the first week of April we are given a candid account of her work at office and something like that. Well to be frank I did not read divvy's blogs from that point of time.. because I listened to them.. yes they are like that.. you don't have to read them.. they speak to you and you just listen.. the only difference being you have to listen with your eyes wide open.. ha ha ha got you guys confused? Well read a blog, any blog and you will know its almost as if she is talking to you.. don't miss the "guys have their own rule list" posted on 26.4.06. laughter unplugged. And yes, you will definitely find smileys adorning her posts like jewels adorning a queen.

And then rajeshgate happened ' dt.2.5.06. I did not know how my stupid comment will lead to disastrous consequences. I was the prime accused in the rajeshgate scandal  that rocked mycorner.rediffiland.com. what followed was a "to whomsoever it may concern" kinda post .. man did I hurt her like anything..? I swear I was quite cursing myself ' but I did mail her an apology and she did write to me too.. (divvy ab samaj mein aayaa meri dhamki kyon kaam aati hai? Ha ha ha). So I had made it to divya's next blog for all the wrong reasons.. but the nice kind hearted jovial creature she is (I can see her growling at me for calling her a creature), she immediately tendered an apology on her next blog someone hit me hard on my head man.. I till then did not (atleast not on a blog) anyways she'd had her sweet revenge when I fell for a trap where she posted one of those dumb links where you are caught clicking away to glory . 150 most useless clicks I have ever clicked in my life.. look at her wide grin on her face now..

For a more candid and sober divya I would like you all to read her post "all about broken relationships" posted on 18.6.06. quite a long blog but unique on her iLand.

On 23.5.06, she has posted a blog "just like that" . Divvy baby, do you think we get paid for posting our blogs ? We too post a blog, just like that (now toh I can see her threatening eyes menacing at me measuring her steps and dealing a final blow at me .) myself, "main kahan hoon?"

On her post of 3.6.06 she has managed a total of 54 comments.. wow divs.. way to go..great yaar,, but then, she was basking in her glory and deprived us of her posts what cruelty, man? So I just made a gentle request to her to post a post, which she calls "Dhamki" but so be it.. atleast she heeded and posted a post the next day

I again had to ask her to post something couple of days back I just did a copy paste job of my previous er, "dhamki" but no she wouldn't heed.. so a real 'dhamki' followed (would suggest you to read it on her g/b). ab toh main bhaag rahaa hoon yahaan se.. nahi to meri haddi pasli ek ho jaayegi

But I would like to say one thing to my friends.. agar mujhe apna regular quota of blogs aapse nahin mila na, toh samajh lijiye ki woh dhamki aa jaayegi ha ha ha.

Well Friends, I had to make a small compromise on my promise and post this post a little later than I had promised. I don't like to break promises.. but I know you'll forgive me for the lapse when I write about it(for being late in posting this blog) on a later post.. I'll do that on another day.

One thing is certain '1) we all like to hear good about ourselves, many times over and 2) we like to listen to other peoples stories etc. Well, there's nothing wrong in this per se, but the overwhelming comments clamoring for write up of friends drove home this point in me. With few exceptions, everybody asked about the write up. Very few appreciated the actual post put up there(Observations - Interim). Please do not mistake me . Well, I don't know if I am a very bad PRO manager and a little better writer or a very bad writer and a little better PRO manager.. either case it doesn't help me much . Guess, I have lots of room for improvement.. What started of as an excerise in asking you people some questions, ended up with me being at the receiving end

I loved all the comments posted by you all and shall cherish it for a long time to come. I have never got so many comments for my blogs.. so the first thanks to all of you . My friends

The last post was posted to buy time from you. I had unwittingly committed myself in my earlier post and am now facing the consequences of the same(more brickbats than bouquets) there was no such dilemma about whom to write first and about whom to write last . Please believe me.. I am following a random order only

Me thinking I shall have my first go at Deepa ' the most adorable creature around iLand and everybody's favorite. I can give you ten reasons why I should start with her and she will give me ten reasons why I shouldn't (but now that I have mentioned it, she wont). Guys, you are all enjoying her writing at iLand.. but just think.. she has landed here by accident ok dumbos not a physical accident.. but an accidental mail to the wrong 'un. I don't know should I thank Amit for introducing her to iLand or to her for embracing it and putting out her Waves of her heart. Either way, its we who are benefited most.

First blog of deepa : a blunder turned boon dt. Nov 16, 2005.

http://waves.rediffiland.com

I am infusing a bit of statistics too - here and there ' just to show you guys that I have a done a little bit of homework she is gonna be mad with me.. for I have cluster-bombed her posts with comments on blogs as old as from Nov 2005 onwards. Guys, you know one thing ' if u get a comment, it shows up as an alert on the sign in landing page ' you click on the hyper link and it will take you straight to the comment ' with no reference to the post. So if some one is commenting on your older posts, you will be at your wits end, trying to figure out on which post it was commented upon. So I thinks I have posted comments on lots of Deepa's vintage posts and she is gonna go crazy linking the comments to the posts. I found one virgin post (nov 16 I think), arrey yaar, a post without any comment (quite surprising), so promptly left one there ' a comment.

She posted three posts on Nov.24, 2005. Now this is the statistician in me getting the better of me. Don't worry friends, I'll get rid of him in no time.

Her writing is so fluid . U get into it in no matter of time.. I will suggest you to read those posts whenever time permits you. It will make for enthralling reading. She weaves magic out of mundane subjects like MoM(minutes of meeting) and appraisals. Man, what can a person write about them. Duh, like Moose would have said in any Archie comic. But believe me, it'll work wonders on you.

Another lovely small post that I would like you to read on her iLand is ' like the title song that you'd call in a bollywood flick. "Waves ' this time from your sea" ' beautifully expressed is the title song of her iLand. Its posted on 12.12.05.

Another post you guys are going to revere, not enjoy, is this "civilized cannibals" posted on 21.12.05.

Ok. I will stop with this right now. I have another suggestion. Click on any date on her post read the blog ' poetry or prose there ' satisfaction guaranteed 100%, and that's my promise. She has displayed a gamut of thoughts ' very very diverse subjects. I wouldn't be lying(to borrow Deepa's words), if I say that entering her blog is like entering a Jewellers shop. Everything is quite precious. The onus is on us now to pick what we like. So here you have one of the most prolific and respectable and wonderful and lovely lady amongst us.(the ands have been used instead of the commas to stress on each and every word.)

I think I will move on to Sandhya: http://tangledwebs.rediffiland.com  (as if the hyper link was necessary.) But I have to follow the protocol, ain't I?

If commenting on Deepa's post was sacrilegious, then commenting on Sandhya's post would not be anything less than blasphemy. Its like a grade I student writing about some person doing PhD.

Though a late entrant to iLand, she has reached dizzying heights in this short span of time. Her caliber of writing is such guys I would like to tell you that the Roys and Seths and other contemporary writers from India are going to get a new colleague ' going by the name of Sandhya Suri. Yup, that's her.

Her first post was a humbly small one on 11.05.2006. and next you have 6 (yes SIX) posts on 15.05.06. Sandhya, I thinks that you should read my observations part 1, where I have mentioned that it's not a good idea to post so many posts on a single day. People only look at your last post, which appears on their screen. Guys I was in for a rude shock in one of the posts. Maybe I overreacted or something like that but I would definitely recommend you to read the post "Working on Life Death" posted on 15.5.06. Here she is thanking us today.. And there, there was not a single comment on it from our side. Shame on us. I found that there were no comments on another two of the six posts posted on that day so I did what I do best leaving some silly comments on those lonely posts I would suggest All the posts posted on 15.05.06 as must-read posts.

Well, the more you delve into Sandhya's blogs, the more fascinating they become. I think I will paste a copy of the comment which I posted on her blog dt.16.5.06. The comment will speak for itself not just for that particular post but for her iLand as well. "you have taken us thro a ride in an orgy of emotions…. and yes i was to write about rediff iLand (as a whole) being the quicksand for me at this point of time - the more i try to extricate my self from it.. the more i get stuck. i could say the same for your iLand too." I can’t describe Sandhya's iLand in better words. May 18, 2006 could as yet be a red letter day for either Sandhya or for iLand or for both. She has posted 10(do I need to repeat that again or write it in words?) posts.

What a terrific blogger? Sandhya, its again one of those things I will have to apologize to you ' I did not read single of those blogs.. but I promise to come back sometime and visit those pages at a very leisurely pace. Or better still, I would cherish the book that you have promised to work on ' that will be an invaluable treasure. Well guys, you have an encore the next day ' Six posts, (three poems, two write ups and in one post, a bit of prose squeezed in between some poetry) were posted on 19.05.06. I again would like to reiterate to Sandhya, (or will you listen to me if I call you Sandy) ' do not post more than one post ' ok, I give you a couple of posts, in a day. You know, our iLanders are always in a hurry, and tend to overlook what is beneath the surface. Gold and diamonds are never found on the surface ' you have to dig mighty deep. Ok, Sandhya, I am logging out of iLand right now. To read one blog of yours requires a steady line of thought and a great emotional balance. Multiply that by five or six or ten or whatever no. fancies you and you have one emotionally drained guy waking up bleary-eyed to office the next day. Sorry Sandhya, I conclude the write up right here, right now . Cant take in anymore but a promise is still valid that I will do so in future.

Tell you something Sandhya .. you are in a very very wrong place you should be somewhere right up there ' as exalted as they come. And here you are stuck up in middle of some nitwits like me, who just by posting some re-cycled forwards feel a great sense of achievement. I felt quite impotent after visiting your iLand but then I take solace in the fact that everybody is not meant to be gifted like you are. You write, we read. You lead, we follow.

(i wanted to write about my friends in a very humorous manner, but these two ladies made up my post anything but humorous… serious stuff up there(on their iLands dumbo, not here..)… but others… well i will put my wicked mind to word and think up of something humorous.)

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||50%

Look my computer shows that I have completed 50% of my job. And to think only two people have helped me accomplish it.

Well Friends, I think writing about just two friends has taken up quite some space and my time too. I will now post the remaining in parts … all in installments over a period of time

Well, you guys must be waiting for the Observations Part ' II, that had i promised in my previous post. Well, i had had a hangover, what with all the comments piling up.

so i have not yet completed that process (of finalizing the post, you dumbo). that is why the interim post. when you can have interim budgets, interim governments etc. why not an interim post, eh?

so i was contemplating whom to write about first and who next etc. etc. I had several options and still am in a confused state of mind.

i first thought about writing in alphabetical order - Ashwini (don't ask, Ashwini who? arrey its Ash yaar) would be the first that way. but i dont want any panga with her. she has got a gang of friends at her disposal. one wrong word from me, or one wrong move… and i will be flattened like a pan-cake.

Then i thought about writing in reverse alphabetical order - oops, its Vidhya. cul de sac again. Better run as fast as i can from here. i aint no keanu reeves to take all that which comes my way, bullets or otherwise. the way i have been leaving comments on her post and asking for explanations, she’s any way searching for me. Vids, do a google search yaar. or better still, try askjeeves.com and yes do tell me when you cool down(wrong suggestion oops.).

Then i thought of writing in “newest friends first” order - that would have taken me to Dheeraj Khanna - i am new to him, so no chance at all. Second newest known person (as shown on my iLand) is Deepa. Aah, now we are on to something. You can write pages on her still be always wanting in your efforts. A few terra-bytes might jus’ be enough to write about her. iLand ki queen hai bhai. gustaki nahi chalegi.  lookin’ at all the other options…..

Then i thought of writing in “oldest friends first” order - Mr. Nandan Newlander. now now.. tell me.. guys woh Mr.Nandan, ek extremely nek insaan hai. aur main thehra, tapori.. kahaan yaar.. aap log, yeh badi badi baatein samjoge nahin.

Then i thought of writing “best friends first” order - that would be akin to committing harakiri. coz, i have several best friends here(sorry likhne mein galti ho gayi hai. all of you are my best friends). if i start with one, then i am sure all the others will ensure that aap sab log meri arthi pe zaroor pahunch aaogey.

Then i thought of writing….. well, what the heck… i have just been postulating theories.. get down to business, you all said, didn't you?(anyway i heard it that way.)

so i found a solution.

i am gonna write it this way now - i have developed an algorithm which decides on a variety of factors - who has viewed my blogpost most, who has posted more no. of comments on my blogs.. who is very active on iLand. who is heeding my advice, you know things like that. Its a very complex process… You see when everything is scientifically decided no one will or can complain. My PC definitely could not handle the load (aap log kitna strain karte hain mere PC ko? do baar to crash ho gaya..acha hua main paas main nahin tha.. warna main bhi saath mein jaata..)

so i have forwarded the data to IBM. They will feed all the data into their super computer…arre kyun nahin bhai… aap sab mere khaas friends ho… aapke liye itna nahi kar sakta hoon kya?

so once they send me back the data, i will start my work. The feedback is expected anytime within the next 72 hours. so i havta wait till then….

so hope you guys understand my problem… and wait for few more days…. dont worry as soon as i receive the data, i shall post it….

P.S.: If you have really read thro all the crap written above, then it is confirmed that your mind is conditioned for the real sequel that I had promised ..


Bye bye. Ta ta

I had promised to post my observations on iLand in my last post. That half-way post got deleted totally and i have written a new post. So you are getting the freshest and newest post ever possible, delivered direct at your door step.

I am splitting this post into two:

Part One : Dummies guide to blogging

and

Part Two : Observation of my friends on iLand. (will be posted later on)

Statutory Warning: Proceeding beyond this point is highly injurious to your health (mental, that is). Proceed only at your own risk. The owner(s) of this site is/are not responsible for any liability whatsoever in this regard.

1. Agree    2. Disagree   (seems the buttons do not work. blame it on those rediff guys.)

Definition of Blogging: www.blogger.com defines a blog as “a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.” and much more. (the last three words are purely mine.)

Definition of a Blogger: a person who does one or all of the above.(these words are mine, totally).

Why Blog:
One, it is cheap, two you don’t need a geek’s help, you can do it all by yourself. Three it is quick and simple which means you can make postings, change them and make it very personal, without being intimate of course.(courtesy - rediff)

Benefits of blogging these are purely my words)
1. you dont have to face the people you talk to.
2. you can visit the site at your own pace and time.
(unlike im’s where both the parties have to be present in front of the pc at the same time. but Ash & Co. have perfected the art of getting the best of both the worlds. everybody leaves a message on a post and lo…. there you have an im on iLand.)
3. u can speak your mind, no matter what.
4. you can be certain of one thing - you wont know that you are deprived of your time in life by that much. so you’ll have that much less worry to figure out your existence over here in this world.
5. it will show your boss that you are really busy throughout the day.
(i nearly got caught the other day. Not by my boss, i am my own boss, but by my dad. to get around that always have another screen like outlook or your office accounts or something else ready and switch to it when your boss comes nearby. A single click on the small desktop icon on the quick launch tray is also equally effective.
6. You can claim depreciation for your brain in your IT return.
7. Corollary to the above: You dont have to die by any other means - when you exhaust your brain, you just are brain-dead.
8. When in a crowd, talk about blogging and the like. People will hold you in awe and high esteem.
9. When it (the post, I mean) does not make sense to anybody else in the world, you will get comments like “awesome”, “rocking”, “great”, “mind-blowing”, “waiting for more” for your thoughts. So Blog.
10. You will soon have a circle of friends, whom: you don't have to hang out, spend on them, lend to them, run chores for them, listen to their rantings, etc.
(the order of points is jumbled, so you figure out the right combo & priority)

Side Effect:
1. Its highly addictive. Keep your head on your shoulders.
2. Your virtual self might overtake your real self.
3. You might get edgy and uncomfortable if you dont post or get comments on your posts.
4. Your virtual friends might overtake your real friends.


All this is general. Now coming to Rediff iLand (beta) in particular.
1. Timing your post is very very vital to attracting many comments and friends.
   Since most of us blog from our offices, try to post by 8.00am or 10.00am. Most of the ppl log in at that time, and your post has the chance of being visible at the “Most recent post”.
2. Also post your best post the day you are gonna give out more “Add a friend” requests. The other person is definitely gonna pay your iLand a visit, before adding you to their list.
3. Dont post more than one post a day. Better still, post one post every couple of days. That way, people will not think of you as jobless, and also you tend to attract more no.of comments.
4. Dont keep posting forwards alone. Once in a while, do some original writing or poetry etc. also. that way your brain will be prevented from rusting.
5. Dont write too technical posts. Nothing pisses off people more than that. For eg. no one is interested  in how you improved the quality of fuel injection at the second stage of flight for the next INSAT take off.
6. Give more credit to your friends and boast about yourself less. This will endear your friends to you.
7. Do not write your full page resume in you list of interests.
8. Do not take any / all of the matter written above seriously.
9. Point no.8 is to be taken seriously. None of other points.

“Press any key to Exit”

Still did not exit? Gosh, i just cant believe how dumb you people can get. Picture khatam ho jaane ke baad bhi baithey ho? Yo, get to work, bahut pad liya is blog mein. Ab kaam pe lag jao. Your life depends on Air, Water, Food and your JOB.
Not on Blogs.

Coming Soon: Observations of Friends at iLand - Part II

Well friends,
it's now more than a fortnight that i have been blogging and reading my friends' and other's blogs. my experience at Iland…..

while browsing within iland, I noticed:
only certain name appear on the landing page: Oscar, Sonu Katha, Sudha Nair, Anurag Das, Alok Singh, Mahesh Patwardhan, Vijendra Mohanty etc. etc. are they on the editorial board of rediff?….. some one please enlighten me.

i went thro many ilands and found fascinating insights by peeping into people’s minds. reading reader’s comments was as interesting as the posts themselves. Sometimes there were words of appreciation, sometimes words of encouragement, sometimes sympathy and sometimes empathy. Sometimes it was a free for all and the comments going tu-tu main-main. I was really surprised to find maximum no. of comments on my “reading/ books” post. I thought reading was a dying art. Frankly speaking I wrote that post for self-gratification (no repentance on that). But to my surprise I recd max no of comments on that post. I expected more comments on “My first blog” which expresses the essence of blogging. I feel good to have given the credit of the words for that blog, then and there itself. Unlike some modern day authors passing of others works as their own. I do post sms and fwds also, but since the source is unknown it is just as it is. As far as comments are concerned, one Mr. Raghavendra Iyer is omni-present. Browse thro any blog .. u'll be sure to find his comments there. I am stumped how does he get so much time first to read all those posts and then to comment on them also. (I can expect his comment on this one ). Today I read his comment in true shairi style on some shairi post. Wonderful Mr. Iyer. Keep it up.

Then while going thro all the iland's of my friends I did a bit of statician's job. Just started counting how many page hits ilanders had. Here are some of the statistics:

Shruti Srinivasa ' 220. Ravi Kumar ' 280. Sudha Nair ' 138. The Witch ' 680. Udita Chaudary ' 259. Vidisha Shah ' 423. Rekha kumar ' 189. VishnukandhGokul Jayaram ' 951. Febin Joy ' 76. Alok Singh ' 173.

Now come the heavy weights:
Vijayendra Mohanty ' 1738. Dharmesh Maniar ' 1876. Mahesh P ' 2012. Amit Aggarwal ' 2026.

The Super Heavyweights???
Nischal Thapa ' 3442. Himanshu Sonkar ' 3983. Mahesh Patwardhan ' 3413. Blossom Menzes ' 3104. Jasir Alavi ' 4329. And the reining champ?? Sandeep Ozarde ' 5164.

I still don't know how the page hits are counted.. But I think it should be modified. Lots of people have good stuff posted on their ilands. Which must be attracting lots of traffic, but the page hits tab shows 0 against it. (Guys are you all from Rediff??) I guess they are.

Cmon this is not an exhaustive list. So guys whose names haven't appeared here please forgive me. I was just fiddling around here. No preparing any official report of any sort. For that you may approach rediff help.

Some blogs contain only photos. I suggest they move over to www.ringo.com or www.photos.yahoo.com or www.hi5.com or www.friendster.com or the numerous other websites for photos / friends. I am not against posting of photos, but please give some work to your gray cells also otherwise they might rust. Rediff Iland is no place for narcissism. It is a place for sharing your thoughts with like minded people. Like there is a saying that if we both exchange Re.1/- then still both of us have Re.1/-. But if we both exchange a thought, then both of us have two thoughts. That's the magic of sharing.

Next blog will be on suggestions and improvements (since this is still beta, they must be working on the bugs.) Lots of bloggers have complained that their stuff had gone kaput vanished into thin air. I sincerely hope it does not happen again to anybody. So long guys