Earthquake 11 April 2012

A massive earthquake measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Indonesia today. It was followed by another tremor measuring 8.2. 

It triggered Tsunami warnings across 28 countries across the Indian ocean. The tremors were felt across India too. Today's quake bought back the difficult memories of the Indian ocean tsunami of 2004.

The summary of the earthquake as obtained from the US Government website is as below.

Indonesia Earthquake Summary 11 April 2012

And a check of all the earthquakes in the last 2 days indicates a substantial seismic activity.

Earthquake - 11 April 2012

I would just pray to God Almighty for His blessings in these difficult times.

For a real time reference of earthquake information, you can refer to this website.

Pray To God

My Wallpapers

Working with computers, my desktop is the most common thing I see everyday. If there was some kind of competition among the stuff (on my PC) which wins my attention the most, then my desktop would win hands down.

The thing that I like the most on my desktop is my Wallpaper. Here's a quick low down of the wallpapers which have caught my attention over the years due to various reasons.

The first one is a plane wallpaper.

American Airlines Plane

This was the time when I was yet to travel on an airplane - about seven years back. And the thoughts of an airplane and their majestic sight was on the top of my mind. This made the wallpaper a winner.

Next one is a snap of a lady whom we know as Asin.

Asin

This was like 6 years back. Asin hadn't made her Bollywood debut, and she was a rising star in the South Indian film industry. It was her rustic beauty which caught my attention.

Thankfully my lady colleague, with whom I shared a desktop, didn't mind her wallpaper.

Next one was this Camping pic.

Camping We Will Go

Calm water, idyllic settings, golden skies offered a very calm outlook in the midst of often confusing work environs.

Some 4 years back, it was this beautiful wallpaper of the Taj Mahal which had me hooked.

The Taj Mahal

It was said that this picture was the best ever snap of the Taj. I wouldn't disagree. The sight of the majestic Taj, with the dry Yamuna in the background, adorned my desktop for years.

Another picture which held me in awe was this snap of Lake Baikal.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the largest fresh water lake in the world, located in Eastern Russia, in Siberia. It is the world's oldest lake, 30 million old, and also the deepest, averaging 744.4 metres. It has a shoreline of 2100 KMs.

Folks at work had planned a trip to this beautiful lake. Disappointingly, it didn't materialize. This serene snap reminds me of God's creativity.

A couple of years back, it was this picture of the calm sea's which decked up my desktop.

Calm Sea

Blue skies, calm water, simple boats, a wide horizon, white clouds - all of them could set my dreams alight.

And somewhere in these years, Uma Thurman had me bewitched.

Uma Thurman 

Her eyes spoke a million a million words. Need I say more?

Finally, these days, it's this picture of a plane taking off making its mark on my desktop.

Air France - Dreams Taking Off

This picture is a symbol of hopes and dreams taking off. Aircraft's have been one of the greatest inventions of mankind. The manner in which those giant bodies take off, carrying with them hundreds of people, and hope and faith of thousands of men and women is simply mind-blowing.

I'm not sure on who invented the concept of desktop wallpapers. But whoever it was, I would like to thank him or her from the bottom of my heart, for giving wings to my dreams while sitting on a simple PC.

Why This Kolaveri Di?

Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri Di?

Well, if you haven't caught onto the Kolaveri bandwagon, it is time. Since it debut on the internet on the 16th of Nov 2011, this song has gone viral and has earned numerous followers.

Why This Kolaveri Di?

What is this song all about? This is a song which discusses about the murderous rage of a girl. 

This Tamil-English song, supported by excellent music and different lyrics, has taken the web by storm. It is trending on YouTube. It was trending on Twitter. This song was seen as a strong competition and threat to Lady Gaga. Most importantly, it has bought the South Indian film industry into limelight and has been widely appreciated by folks across India.

This is a song about failed love. However, this song has also reflected the mood of the moment across the world. 

The entire world is in a murderous rage. (Well, Kolaveri means Murderous Rage).

Anna Harare (the premier social crusader in India) is on fire, pursuing the Indian Government ruthlessly for the Jan Lokpal Bill. All that Manmohan and his team can say is - Why this Kolaveri Da (Di is babe or lady, and Da is male for Di )?

The Indian citizens are "Anxious To Kill" (This was described as the meaning of Kolaveri by my friend). 

In a span of less than 4 days, a single man has slapped two high profile politicians. And like I heard on the news hour tonight, they have been slapped a million times with the videos being replayed continuously on TV. 

Next times the politicians will step out, they will be accompanied by bodyguards and a MP3 player playing - Why this Kolaveri?

Dhanush Shruti Hassan Why This Kolaveri Di? 

The inflation is on fire, and the prices of commodities (petrol included) are shooting through the roof. All that the common man can say against these prices is - Why this Kolaveri?

The Libyans are in a murderous rage. They have bought down the Gaddafi regime, killed Muammar Gaddafi himself and captured his son Saif. The Egyptians removed their ex President Hosni Mubarak from power, and are now gunning against the army to install a civilian government. 

The only thing that the military rulers can say - flummoxed by the attitude of the civilians - Why this Kolaveri?

The Why This Kolaveri Di Team

The list is endless. Singer Dhanush and his team have aptly captured the mood of the moment in this lovely song, making it a huge hit. Catch it right below.

It would be most worthwhile to note that this song is from the debut movie of music composer Anirudh Ravichander, all of 21 years. I just hope and pray that he gives excellent music in the coming years. As for Aishwarya Rajnikanth, Dhanush's better half, this is her directorial debut. The film "3" stars Dhanush himself and Shruti Hassan, and is all set to become a mega hit. 

Well, next time someone is in an angry mood or a murderous rage directed towards you, you know what to say - Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri Di?

P.S. I will be downloading it into my MP3 tonight. And playing it in replay for the next few days!!

Interesting Searches

Google has transformed the way people search over the internet. Blogger has given a way to ordinary people like me to hone their writing skills. And Clicky, my tracker, has given a beautiful way of tracking visitor stats. 

Here is an interesting compilation of the search queries of some visitors who landed on my blog in the last 7 days.

• A breath of freshness in late August
• A happy girl is the future of India
• Accepting and facing problems
• She is a real beauty
• Beds on the beach
• False consciousness culturally instilled of religion
• Has Kris retired from Infosys
• Hina Rabbani khar married
• Hina Rabbani khar vital stats
• How to pray to god for rewinding time
• I Like You
• Ignorance is not an excuse
• Ignorance is not bliss 
• I'm sorry  
• In god we trust 2011
• Inspiration words of thanks for a job well done
• Internet addiction  
• Is not chivalry dead
• Shuffle really really
• We live our lives in compartments
• Were there two operation Geronimo, one at abbotabad in Pakistan and other at a cine studio in Israel or the US
• What does a hair color say about a people
• What is the main aim of Jan lokpalbill
• Who invented the Facebook like button
• Why did Mao zedong create maoism
• You are a real beauty 

The list has been compiled with all due respects to the visitors. After all, we all, including me, look for answers to different and varied questions on the internet.

The Facebook Like Button

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”

Maybe this was the quote by William Arthur Ward which ran through the back of the mind of the people at Facebook (or was it Mark Zuckerburg himself) when they invented the Facebook Like Button.

After all encouragement is something which we have seen and felt right from our childhood. 

As a child, our parents encouraged us to take those baby steps - so that we can walk into the world. 

You will recollect the time when you walked into your first exam. Your parents must have wished you best of luck when you walked away from them towards the school. 

But yet when you stole a small nervous glance back at them, to get that last boost of confidence, your parents must have signaled a "thumbs-up". That would have told you - go on my dear, nothing can go wrong.

And years later, when you appeared for that high profile board exam, you friends across the exam hall must have given you the same "thumbs-up" signal. Undoubtedly, that would have given you amazing confidence to the crack the exam at hand.

Who can forget Akshay Kumar saying - Thums Up, Taste The Thunder.

Well, such instances are many and one common thread unites them - encouragement. After all it's a signal to motivate. An alternative for "All The Best" or "I Like It".

But as life started moving towards the net, bringing in its passivity, its aloofness - such tokens of encouragement were rare. In fact, they were non-existent.

However, man has learnt to fill voids. And the Facebook designers introduced this wonderful "thumbs-up" button - rechristening it as "The Like Button". And needless to say, it has been one of the most sucessfull little features developed on the internet. 

With Facebook being rich in content - be it the pictures, the videos, the status updates, the web of links, the pages, the forums, etc etc - you had a lot to like and love. And - most likely - with the intent of indicating your fondness for a particular content , your appreciation for a particular subject, they introduced The Like Button.

It would be surprising to note that a like is not determined purely based on the content. There is some additional element or aspect in play when you like something. It's the human element.

Think about a content which originates from an individual who is Relatively Unknown. If you like the content (be it a picture or status or anything) or think that the content is good, you are more likely to click The Like Button.

Alternatively, think about a content which originates from an individual who is Relatively Known. You may like the content (be it a link or a comment or anything). However, whether you click The Like Button or not it is dependent on your relationship with the individual. You would think twice before saying - I Like It.

You may love the matter or admire the subject generously. But you would have second thoughts before Liking It. And remember, this is just for the Relatively Known.

After all, the internet is anonymous. Yet it is just a small world.

You must be wondering - how would you identify someone who is Relatively Known or Relatively Unknown? Well, it's a question you can answer definitively. Try to place individuals into these two buckets - and you may find behavior in play. 

And who comes between the Relatively Known and the Relatively Unknown. Well, they are the Well Known. And for them, you don't have to even think once before clicking The Like Button.

Well, I might be wrong about this human impact on the process of liking. Or I may be right after all. But it would be important to say that these behaviors are not wrong or irrational. After all, Facebook and the internet is a social network. And a social network is incomplete without such human emotions.

And it will be worthwhile to note that today The Facebook Like Button celebrated its first birthday. Read more here.

I wonder how many would like this blog post of mine. And how many actually click on The Like Button.

P.S. Motivation Courtesy - A couple of Woody Allen movies I saw this weekend. He understands human emotions and depicts them in a simply awesome manner.

Amazing Art

DM - DailyMail of London - never fails to give you an interesting piece of news.

And this one caught my eye today. 

Here is a very beautiful picture an tiger.

This is what the artist - Craig Tracy - had to say. 

"The South China Tiger image is certainly one of my favorite images so far. I love what it represents and all of the good that it has done to help save the tiger."

And if you are wondering how the painting was done, just check the picture below.

Yes, on the body of three women!! Stunning isn't it??

Simply a wonderful piece of art.

Read more here.

The Loss Of A Habit

A long time back I had read about this quote.

~~ Good habits, once established are just as hard to break as are bad habits.
~~~~ Robert Puller

Well, when I read this one, I prayed to God that all the good habits that I posses stay with me, forever.

But sadly, in recent months, I have lost one very good habit which I possessed. A habit which I deeply cherished. A habit which made me many a precious friend. A habit which started countless discussions in innumerable situations.

It is the habit of Reading. It was the habit of Reading.

Sadly, I have lost the habit of reading in all its forms. Be it news papers, or magazines, or books. All of it.

There was a time when I used to start my day with reading of the newspapers. I would go through all the pages and read the most eye-catching ones first. I would also make a mental bookmark of the articles that I needed to catch up later in the day - possibly over the evening tea or while having dinner.

But off late, early morning sleep has been more precious. The only thing after getting up is to get ready and head off to work. This has made reading of the news papers a rarity.

The only solace is the fact is that I manage to catch up with the online newspapers - spending a maximum of 20-30 minutes a day on it. But it does not give the same satisfaction as that of reading a "real" news paper. What's bad is the fact that the quality of news articles that show up on the first page of the website are not upto the mark or diverse enough to give me full fledged information about the going on's in the world.

Next one is the habit of reading books. I was a voracious reader at one point of time - gulping upto three books a month in my tight schedule. Reading was the most common pastime over the weekends and holidays. I enjoyed reading about any topic under the sun - fiction, non-fiction, thrillers, comics, romance, business, biographies - the list was endless.

Back in school, during the summer vacations, I used to enroll at the local library. It used to offer a facility to take two books at a time, for sixty rupees a month. 

I used to make the best use of that opportunity by reading two books a day. And most importantly, every school year - wait for the vacations to arrive.  

But then came my personal computer - only to steal away the company of my humble books. Enticing Electronics took over the humble Paper.

This picture made me wonder whether it was the same me who used to read the Harry Potter books on the same day of they being released, keeping every other thing on the sun aside, only to finish the book and get to the end of the mystery. With Harry Potter, the mystery never ended.

I would also love to read before sleep. Falling asleep while reading was one of the pleasures life used to offer.

I maintained an online compilation of the books I had read and I planned to read. Shelfari was the website where I maintained this list. It took me quite a while even to recollect this website. I had to take support of my email to do so. That explains the gravity with which I have lost it all.

And then came the habit of blogging. Blogging, like Reading, is quite addictive. And for the last few months, it has been Blogging Vs Reading. Blogging has won hands down.

The advent of movie franchisees has been another factor which led to this situation. Twilight has been one of the most sucessfull novel series in the last couple of years, and I was keen to check it out - by reading. Ultimately, I ended up seeing the movies - killing any chance of reading the books.

Another thing which has contributed to this downfall is the short articles that we read on the internet. Although they are easy to grasp, they have resulted in a reduced attention span. And a reduced attention span does not make life easy for reading books.

There was a time when every alternate shopping trip with friends consisted of visiting the neighboring book store. Flipping through the books, looking for interesting stuff was a great way to pass time and connect. And If something caught you eye, by God's grace, you could buy it. And make the best utilization of the purchase by sharing it with your friends.

These days I force myself to get a few of books - every few months - just in the hope of kick starting back the habit. Or maybe read some magazines to develop the interest back.

The only book that I can remember of reading in recent times - without putting it down - was "Freakonomics". I loved the concept of the book and the answers put down to simple, real world, questions.

Books make you think, and that was the case with "Freakonomics" too. I had purchased this book while traveling for work - over the Xmas weekend. Incidentally, the travel back home was delayed due to bad weather, delayed flights and a shutdown airport (in the capital city of the biggest country on the earth). 

Made me wonder - Why do we have all the travel troubles in the midst of the holiday season?? If you have read "Freakonomics", you will acknowledge that this is one question which the authors of the book would love to answer - with their excellent analysis.

This loss has been hurting me more over the last few days - since I discussed books with two people. Some one told me that she had slept only at 2.30 in the morning - because she couldn't sense the time while reading. That made me jealous. That made me recollect my old times. 

And someone else told me that her favorite book was "The Kite Runner". And I professed that "To Kill A Mocking Bird" is my favorite. Incidentally, this lady was able to recollect the most significant line of this book - thanks to her sharp memory. 

~~ "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

~~~~ Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird. 

All this made me wonder - maybe it is time to revive this wonderful habit. I can't make a resolution, because, they say that resolutions are meant to be broken. But an attempt can be certainly made.

If wishes were horses, and horses could fly, I would also love J.K. Rowling to start writing again. Her narration was awesome and reading her books kept me engaged for hours altogether. 

A visit to the bookstore at my office could also help. They offer a generous discount of 10% on every book that you buy.

Maybe the help of the good old "Reader's Digest" can be sought. It's short articles might help to tide over the attention span problem. And once that's taken care, a good flowing book can bring back the good old days. 

A few of them are already in the pipe line - an almost biography of Winston Churchill, a book by N.R. Narayana Murthy on the Indian society - A Better India, A Better World, and a book with the name - Flirting With Disaster.

Well, only time can tell whether I will be sucessfull in my endeavour. A worthwhile resolution could be to come back to this blogpost and leave a comment on completely reading the above mentioned three books. Let's see how soon it happens.

And have you lost any habit recently? Was it for the good or bad? And if it was for the bad, I certainly hope that you are taking those small steps back - to reclaim that habit which was a wonderful part of your life.

Against Cyber Censorship

Time and again, we have discussed about silly laws. These laws are ridiculous to such an extent -  you would wonder what would have the law makers thought about while making them.

One such law has recently been proposed by the Government of India under the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008. This draft deals with the due diligence to be observed by some entities - being referred to as "Intermediaries".

Now question 1. Who are these Intermediaries?

An intermediary is defined as any entity, which on behalf of another receives, stores or transmits any electronic record. Importantly, Telecommunication Networks, Web-hosting and Internet Service Providers, Search Engines, Blogs, Online payment and Auction sites as well as Cyber Cafes have been classified as Intermediaries.

And question 2. What are these intermediaries supposed to do?

As part of the due diligence, they are supposed to be responsible for the contents that they host.

What does this mean for the bloggers?

Well, it means that the bloggers are responsible for the contents that they host on their blog. I would say - nothing wrong with that. 

But if the contents that they host would be reviewed by someone, and if some steps are taken to restrain those contents, views and opinions from being published - then it would mean that the Freedom of Expression is being curtailed.

Blogs give an opportunity to an individual to share their thoughts. And a chance to the general public to share their counter views. And if such healthy discussions are being clipped, it would not reflect nicely on a democratic country like India.

After all, we do not want to go the China way. If I see the visitors to my humble blog, I hardly find anyone from mainland China.

Once when I asked my friend in China to check out my writings, she said sadly - the site does not exist. The Chinese government had blocked my site.

Well, we don't want such a situation to exist in India. India has given her people a chance to voice their opinions and thoughts. And it should continue this way - for the development of the nation and her people.

If you are interested in reading more about Internet Freedom - how some countries have taken steps to curb it and how the people have overcome such difficulties - you should have a look at this article.

This article has classified Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Vietnam as  "Enemies of the Internet".

Other countries are classified as "Countries Under Surveillance".  You might be surprised to find some first world countries - like Australia and France - in this list.

We should hope that better sense prevails and such laws are not passed. Only then we can ensure we have an inclusive growth - and voices of the people being heard.

And lastly, before I conclude, it will be worthwhile to note that 12th March is observed as "World Day Against Cyber Censorship".

Here is the newly compiled list of nations and the leaders of the nations who are considered as opponents of the Freedom of the Internet.

Catch more here for discussions on this topic.

Bloggable

I have been an avid blogger for the last 4 years. And blogs have been active on the internet for the last decade or so.

The humble blog topics - which millions like me and you write about - have finally found an official recognition, courtesy the Oxford Dictionary.

The word Bloggable has made its way to the Oxford Dictionary.

It means - and I quote "suitable or sufficiently interesting as a topic for a blog".

A sample sentence right the from dictionary is - "I started subscribing to the journal in the hope of finding bloggable material in there". 

And I pray to God and hope that I get a lot of bloggable topics to voice my opinions and thoughts.

Internet Addiction

Addiction is a bad thing.

The dictionary would define it in two ways.

The first one says that an addiction is an abnormally strong craving. Craving in itself is an intense desire for a particular thing.

This definition gives a moderate picture of an addiction. The second one depicts a more harsher reality.

Addiction is being abnormally dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit forming. This habituation or dependency is alarming.

Why am I thinking about this??

Well, today afternoon, I was disconnected from the online world for more than three hours - courtesy a power cut. With nothing else to do, sleep not forthcoming and no one to talk to, the desire for  connecting to the internet was getting onto me.

It made me think - Have I become addicted to the Internet??

A few hours of disconnection shouldn't have ideally mattered. But then when you don't get something when you are really expecting it, the desires grow stronger and multiply into enormous proportions. Net result - an addiction.

The first thing that I did after the power was restored was to switch on the computer and get back online.

And this isn't a good sign for someone who is online and connected to the net - more than fifteen hours a day, for at least 5 days a week. And for the remaining two days, its twelve hours a day.

What is more troubling is a small fact. 

The number of websites that I most commonly surf do not exceed ten. This includes - a mail site, a couple of social networking sites, three news papers, a tabloid and a blog. These days, it's on a very rare occasion, that I go beyond these trusted companions.

It made me think - Is the addiction really worth it's part??

But addictions have an habit of demonstrating themselves - so that you can introspect and take the required corrective action.

And what's the signal??

A silly me, sitting up in a dark room just moments before sleeping,  at half past twelve in the night, writing a blog post entry about Internet Addiction. 

Was this really warranted?? 

The fact that I can't stop writing until I post the blog entry is the crowning moment of the addiction.

I'm hoping to take some steps to reduce this mad desire for internet in the coming days. And I pray to God Almighty to help me succeed in my endeavour.

And this might become my wallpaper in the coming days. :-)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Internet Needs

The internet, since its inception in 1969, has been a trend, an utility, which has influenced our life.

For some, like those in Africa, it is a privilege. And for others, like those in America, it is a necessity. 

The penetration of the internet has been steadily increasing. This is definitely for the good, as the vast amount of knowledge, and information, contributed by the internet, among other factors, would go onto improve the lifestyle of people.

If we consider the current internet statistics, as on 30th June 2010, Asia leads the continents in terms of absolute volume of internet penetration.

But if you consider relative percentages, in terms of the population of the respective continents, America leads the pack.

This goes onto show that the penetration of the internet in a particular continent is closely linked to the lifestyle of its people, to their wealth and abundance.

We strongly look forward to the day when each and every thinking individual in this world would have basic access to the internet. This would be the day when everyone would be considered as empowered and can have equal access to the information and opportunities created by the internet.

But then, why do we need the internet for?

This can be illustrated by Maslow's Hierarchy of Internet Needs.

So what does Maslow propose?

At the very base of the pyramid, stand the "Cats". He says that internet users come looking for funny pictures of cats. 

This may have been the case a few years back. But even today, searching for photographs and pictures is one of the primary usages of internet.

Next comes social networking. 

Man is a social animal. In the old age, meeting up socially was considered to be a norm for keeping in touch with acquaintances. 

In this fast forward age of the internet, networking socially is considered to be the order of the day. Needless to say, you have a host of social networking sites to assist you in this - including the current rage, Facebook.

Next comes something whose popularity need not even be mentioned. 

You can understand the mass of people looking for this information when you will find out that there are approximately 193 million results for this query in Google. 

And the results are bound to grow going ahead. Unless all people decide to practice celibacy.

People also look for answers for addressing their shortcomings on the internet. 

All of us have certain shortcomings. Self Introspection can provide answers to resolve them. But many a times, we have little faith in what our mind says to us. 

Thankfully, we have someone to answer of queries, and to resolve the intricate questions of our mind. It is the internet.

Next comes knowledge search.

People across all age groups, right from students, professionals, adolescents  come looking for something which will increase their knowledge base. 

This might help students do better in their studies, or help professionals do nicely at their jobs, or help adolescents to improve their lifestyle. This is one of the strongest benefits of the internet.

At the summit of Maslow's pyramid is Productivity.

Once the other lower level needs are satisfied, the man will aim for realization of this need - the need of self actualization.

Frankly, I did not understand how this need relates to the internet. Have to end this blog post on an incomplete note. :-( :-(.

But leaving things incomplete is not a good thing. So I need to make a resolve to complete this last part once I understand this better. And I strongly hope that it is soon.

The Wall

Let me walk you through time.

Situation 1

You are somewhere in Central Asia. As a trader, you are following the Silk Route. It's early 19th century.

You meet a man as you stop for water. 

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies "Are you referring to the Great Wall of China?"

He points his hand towards the east and says "It's right there."

Situation 2

Fast forward to the 1970's.

You are in Central Europe at the height of Cold War and a few years after the end of the World War 2.

Walking the streets of Paris, you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies "Are you referring to the Berlin Wall?"

He points his hand towards Germany and says "It's right there." 

Situation 3

Fast forward to the 1990's.

You are in India at the height of the Cricket World Cup fever.

Walking on the streets of Mumbai, you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies, "Are you referring to Rahul "The Wall" Dravid?" 

He points his hand towards the billboard and says "He's right there." 

Situation 4

Time flies, and it is 2010.

Walking on the streets of Tokyo (it doesn't matter even if it is London, New Delhi, Moscow or New York), you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He points his hand towards his cellphone and says "It's right there."

Shell shocked, you see a wall - without any bricks.

But I wouldn't offer any prizes for guessing it.

It is the Facebook Wall.

This is a short story of how the humble wall has transitioned from being a landmark, to being a barrier between two nations, to being superstar cricketer, and finally being a hottest trend on the internet!!

What next??

What Got Me Started?

Every thing that one does is driven by a single spark that gets it started.

Blogging is an activity which I try to pursue regularly. 

Way back in 2005, it was this blog - titled Filter Coffee - which got me hooked onto the world of blogging.

It all started with following this blogger's post on the Company's intra-net. 

These were the initial days of blogging and everyone was new to the concept of blogging. Later the blogger stopped posting his posts on the intra-net and limited himself to the internet only.

I followed him there. 

What made me attracted to his posts?

First of all, the blog was generously spiced up with pictures. The pictures were simple. Each of the pictures had a superb quote with it. This quote gave words and superb meaning to those static images.

The pictures were elegant. The words with it were thoughtful. The blog made for a good read everyday.

Maybe thats when I decided to start with my own blog. But the lack of regular access to internet, and generous time for self to pursue this passion held me back.

But finally I got an opportunity to start my own blog in October 2007. I got a URL of my choice and I was happy. 

I had been thinking about the name of my blog for sometime before registering it on the internet. In my busy work schedule back then, all I got was a moment to surf up the internet and read a story of my choice. That's how my blog was christened "A Moment Please".

Lack of a personal computer and limited access to the internet made me  passive blogger for a year and a half. However, with every opportunity, I attempted to write about a story which made me say - A Moment Please - on that day.

It was not until May 2009 that I started being a regular blogger. And today as I write this line, I look up at the heavens and say a small Thank You - for providing me this opportunity.

Blogging has given me an opportunity to improve my writing skills - something that I was poor at while in school. My essays, back in the school examinations, were miserable to say the least. The score did not go beyond a measly 3 or 4 on a scale of 10.

I have been trying to improve the content of my blogs. The writing is still in the evolving phase and I think there is a tremendous room for improvement.

Hoping to get good ideas, strong support and good learning opportunities in this wonderful world of blogging!!