As my blog turns 1 today

20 May 2012 

My very 1st post

20 May 2013

That was exactly a year ago. Can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I officially started writing. My blog is one year old today! And as its author, creative head, producer and director, I am super excited about this big day. Whether it’s a baby’s 1st birthday, a child’s 1st fallen milk tooth, 1st wedding anniversary or the 1st child in the family, this No.1 is always very special. So celebrate we must and what better way than to go down memory lane, revisiting all those old posts, rekindling those forgotten feelings, capturing the joy of growing up as an blogger, the struggle, the anxiety, the satisfaction that follows…..walking back to when it all began.

I don’t remember when exactly the seed of starting a blog was planted in my mind. But I do remember thinking about getting started for a long time. I spent hours researching on the internet about blogs in general, what do I need to get started, what do I want to write about, how do I begin. Then when I came to the technical bit I realised that in these last few years while I was changing nappies, preparing healthy snacks and doing school runs, the e-world had progressed quite a bit without me! I learnt about what an ‘app’ is and realised that the quickest way to grab someone’s attention is not by texting or calling but by changing your status on ‘Facebook!’ I struggled with new terms like ‘widget’, ‘permalink’, ‘favicon’, and I also learned about Google+, Pinterest, RSS feeds, though I still find it difficult to understand why one would need so many different media to talk about the same thing! On one hand I found it exhausting to find time and energy to sit down at my computer after a hectic day trying to understand this whole new world, but on the other hand I started liking the feeling of learning something new and challenging after a long time. Soon after, I enjoyed every bit of my ‘own’ time where I started working on creating my own little niche in cyber space! 

After some research I decided to use blogger as my blogging platform. When I had to register my blog name I knew I wanted something related to Motherhood as that was one thing I thought I knew most about and what I lived through each day 24/07. Luckily it also happened to be something that I am passionate about! It’s actually quite strange and sometimes I would sit and wonder what happened to the reckless, carefree, spontaneous young girl who had become a mini-celebrity in her social circle after taking part in a Ms. India contest! Was she happy living inside the body of this domestic lady, this mother who found happiness in ironing clothes, making beds and baking bread, or was that girl getting suffocated inside and needed an outlet to breathe or to break-free? “Was that girl really me?” I ask myself. I wanted to probe and find out the answers and that’s when I thought that my blog will be a journey, a journey “From Miss India to Motherhood.” 

My blog’s 1st home page design

While I had written my 1st post on May 20, I wanted to write a few more before I publicised my blog. When I read all those old posts now I realise how much I have changed or grown in my writing style and also as a person. To start off with my blogs used to be small paragraphs, extensions of my ‘status’ on Facebook!  Blogs like What would I be, Changing priorities, A diary, baby book, a blog. Some others like The NO joy of walking shows my irritation as a newcomer to this city which is now slowly replaced with growing fondness for it’s fast paced life!  Finally on June 04, I made this blog public with I am ready! I had written ten posts by then and was eager to know what my family and friends thought of my blog. This is what my Facebook status read on June 04 “My very first blog!!! Very excited about this new born baby of mine  Please do spare some time to view, read and comment (friendly suggestions are most welcome but please leave your criticisms for later when I gain more confidence). Look forward to your support! Wish me luck.” I was hoping someone would notice me and write back a line, I was certainly not prepared for the overwhelming congratulations and good luck messages that I started receiving! It made me feel so elated that all my doubts and nervousness at having started this venture slowly got erased.

I did not look back after that as I continued writing without any fear, as if I was talking to a friend, making my feelings known. The quickest post that I have must have written so far is It’s quiet, isn’t it?, finished in less than an hour after the kids had gone to bed. Freedom to breathe was a special one as this was conceptualised in my mind while hiking up to the Peak for the first time with a new friend who soon happened to become one of my closest friends in Hong Kong! What is this life if full of care and End of a school year…again? made me quite emotional while writing, while Karz – my evening movie became special since my elder son was sitting right next to me as I wrote the whole post and also gave me the title for this post. This has also been one of the most read posts of my blog for some reason! In fond memory of my Pappa was a very personal post talking about my grandfather and a dear aunt who have both passed away. My own favourite though is Where did my little boy go? – a question that had been bothering me for a long time and as I sat down to write about it, emotions came flowing out and by the time I was done I was so exhausted and at the same time feeling so light and relieved!

What I love about blogging is the fact that I can start making a conversation whenever I want to. No one can say “Oh can I call you back?”, “Sorry just a minute,” or “Can we please have dinner first and then talk?”. My post on “You must start a blog!” insisted my husband, is about just that topic.

The one thing troubled me as a new blogger was my personal security and that of my family. When you have your own personal blog it is difficult to keep out personal details. Everyday things that you do, places that you go, while I do try and keep that to a minimum, I do realise that my life is becoming an open book for all to see and read if they want and that sometimes is not a very assuring thought. I had also started writing a post on this topic “Am I safe online?” but never got to complete it.

A few months after I started writing I realised that there are blogging communities sitting in cyberspace and depending on your interest you can join one or many communities. That is quite encouraging as a new writer when you are looking to lean on others’ support. Comments is the sweet word that we all want to hear, requesting and pleading for reader comments, jumping up with joy when we see ‘A new comment’ waiting in the inbox! In communities we meet blogging legends, blogging champions or beginner bloggers like me who request for blog reviews. I joined a few communities, some worked and some didn’t work for me. The best one for me was Indiblogger, which is an Indian bloggers community which helped me make so many acquaintances and e-friends, people whom I have never met and yet people I know so much about through their blogs.

I am just one year old today but already considered middle-aged in this blogging world where most blogs do not last for more than a couple of years. I have published 76 posts so far besides a couple of incomplete ones that are waiting for completion in my Draft box. I have won a few Awards, started writing for some Hong Kong and Mumbai based family portals and got noticed around a bit, definitely many times more than what I had anticipated. In fact when I started off I expected nothing, just a space where I could be myself and write about my feelings. But this blog has evolved over time grabbing my attention, forcing me to sit and think and write, almost like a second career for me. And none of this would have been true had it not been for the love and support of all my family, friends and acquaintances who continue reading my posts, snippets of my life and send me their comments which only encourages me to write more and more. I don’t know how long I will continue writing but I do know that —
On a quiet summer’s day 
When the kids would have left the nest and flown away, 
And with a cup of tea in my hand, going cold 
I will re-live all these moments,
All these memories stored as good as gold!