Bloggers Recognition Award Courtesy Shri J Mathur

I owe this post to the graciousness of my esteemed co-blogger Shri J. Mathur who blogs at https://jmathur.wordpress.com and who found it worthwhile to nominate my name for the captioned Award. Though this is not the first time that I have been nominated for a Blog Award, however, this is the first time that I humbly accept this honour. Earlier, there have been occasions when awards and accolades have come my way but unfortunately I had to bow out of the ceremony mostly because the Rules of the Awards were, in my opinion, too stringent and the nominees whom I had to, in turn, select for bestowing the same recognition further always fell short of the stipulated number as I was not much of a blog reader/browser at that point of time.

But this time it is different. I have been knowing Shri Mathur, as a blogger and a reviewer par excellence, since many years. In fact, I have learnt to write film and book reviews by reading and re-reading his review posts on other sites long before he joined word press. My interest in Hindi Literature and Pulp Fiction has been stimulated courtesy Shri Mathur’s sincere evaluations and critiques. His comments on my posts, short stories and reviews have given me encouragement to write more and more. We have had lengthy telephonic discussions after watching a much-talked-about-movie or reading a book of common interest and appeal. In short, my association with Shri Mathur has been long and meaningful.  Therefore, there are more than one reason why this recognition coming from Shri Mathur holds great significance in my blogging career, if I may say so.

Rules of the Award:

As the Rules of the Award go one has to

• Thank the Blogger who has nominated you and provide the link to his/her blog in your Thanksgiving Post;
• Write a Post in favour of the Award bestowed on you;
• Briefly outline your journey as a Blogger;
• Give two advice to newbies in the world of Blogging;
• Nominate 15 (fifteen) Bloggers whom you wish to bestow the same recognition/honour further;
• Inform each Blogger whom you have further nominated for the award by way of comment wherein sharing the URL to the Post in which you have nominated them for the award.

My Journey As A Blogger:

Blogging happened to me all of a sudden when one of my colleagues suggested that it was a fun activity for leisure time which I would enjoy immensely. In fact, she herself created my first blog space on blogspot. At first, I was quite hesitant to write a post which I knew was open to public view and comment. However, gradually I opened up to the idea realising that it was a powerful medium to voice my opinion and communicate with like-minded people. Over a period of more than half a dozen years, blogging, for me, has evolved as I myself have, learning from various experiences of life. From reviews to short stories to social commentaries to poetry and many other experimental write-ups, my blog-space, I believe, has assumed a personality of its own – a personality which is an extension of me….a reflection of how my mind works…..a mirror which images my reactions to various internal and external stimuli.

I think blogging is not the appropriate expression of my space in this virtual world. It is an instrument by which I have influenced the thought processes of many a co-bloggers who read me and at the same time, I myself, have been, in turn, influenced by the creative vocalisations of those whose work (read blogs) I admire.

As Shri Mathur says blogging is a creative outlet which is a must in today’s stressful routine that we all succumb to for sustenance.

My Advice to New Bloggers:

I would not call this advice. It is more of an assertion that I wish to make for the benefit of all those who have just joined the community given to blogging.

Firstly, blogging should not be taken lightly. Bloggers should use their space responsibly, write sensibly and above all, be it any category (personal, poetry, hobby etc.) be ethically engaged in strengthening the community and creativity. Blogging is a special skill. Hone it with discipline and dedication. Those who say Bloggers are non-writers are guilty of serious oversight. The best part about blogging is that you have the freedom to opinionate and ideate without bothering about subscribing to any particular ism. However, in doing so, one should not forget that whatever freedom you enjoy should also be socially useful, important and impactful without infringing other’s space and liberty.

Secondly, one should not write with the sole purpose of gathering so many views, so many hits and so many comments. In short, one should not write to please others or what the others want or desire to read. Be different. Be your own voice. Be you. And readership will follow…automatically.

My nomination for this Award

I read and admire the following Bloggers whom I also nominate for this prestigious Award. The Rules do not say that reasons for nomination are also to be attached with the names of the nominees. But I, as usual, deviate from the league to tag each name with one-liners to justify why I nominate these Bloggers/Blogs:

1. Amit Agarwal……………for the shared love for haikus.
2. Dahlia Ghosal……………for the shared love for literature.
3. Rajani Radhakrishnan………..for those exquisite strands in cadence.
4. Shail Mohan………………for one and only Lucy and her fraternity.
5. Miriam Hurdle…………..for the shared spiritual leaning.
6. Dave Kingsbury…………for the shared love for poetry.
7. Ankita…………….in envy of her creativity.
8. Alok Singhal…….Aah! Those beautiful pics!!
9. Devlina Talapatra/Archya Sengupta ….for the shared love for food.
10. Varsh………………for the Thinker she is.
11. Uma Shankar Pandey………….for his ornamental writings. Ooohs!!
12. Bikram…………..for the genuine person that he is.
13. Nila Bose……………..again poetry.
14. Jaish Vats…………….for her random goodness.
15. Saritha…………………for her cute creativity.

There are other excellent, erudite bloggers whom I regularly trail but I find Shri Mathur has already hijacked them and I do not know whether the Rules of the Award permit duplication in nomination. So, the loss is all mine!

Thanks once again Mathur Sahab for your kind gesture!!!

Grateful as always.