In Person

Finally, it happened. After about two and a half years of fairly regular blogging, for the very first time yesterday, I met face to face a fellow-blogger whom I have come to know through blogging :-)! I guess it was only appropriate that the blogger was SK, one of the very first readers of my blog :-)!

After I met her, I realized just how familiar you can become with a person just by reading their blogs. After a single hello, we were chatting nineteen to a dozen just as if we had known each other for a very long time :-)! It was good fun to finally see in flesh and blood a person I have read about so often. A very nice experience altogether.

Which is why I am now looking forward to other such meetings :-)!

p.s. Actually there were three bloggers (including me) there - but I have known Spark from before, so he does not count. Even though he was the reason why the meeting with SK happened in the first place :-).

p.s.1. I met SK's other half, K, too - now I also know the person she writes about so often :-).

p.s.2. SK looks just like her Orkut profile pic and sounds just as sweet as she does on her audio posts :-)!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

After all the nice things my blog had to say about me forgetting its birthday last year, I learnt my lesson. So dearest blog, a very happy birthday to you :-)! You have already turned five! My my, growing up fast, aren't we?


In spite of all your assumed modesty, I bet you already think you are great. Nothing wrong in just thinking, huh? At any rate, must say I am really glad to have you around. I would lionize and praise you a lot more, but am feeling darn sleepy today. So will conclude with another "Happy Birthday, old thing :-D"!

My blog's most ardent fan

When I first started writing this blog, absolutely no one but me knew about its existence. It just happened that I did not tell anyone about it. The few visitors that I got landed here by pure chance - my blog happening to have a very plausible URL (for Indians). Shilpa was the first person I told about archana.blogspot.com. She was adding members to the blog she had created for writing about our school memories and she needed me to have a blogger account for that.

About that time, I was blogging fairly regularly. I had also linked to the blogs of a few undergrad classmates. Spark found my blog resultantly. Archana landed up here on her own thanks to sharing my first name. Saranya came through Spark. And a few others through them. At that point, I felt bad that my own family still had no inkling of my great writings. So I mentioned my site to them as well as to three other friends. Till date, most of my other friends are as yet unaware of this site and for whatever good reason, I am more comfortable keeping it that way (in case you were wondering, NO, it is not because I plan to crib about them here ;-)).

Anyways, once my family came to know about the blog, my sis mailed back saying that it was a good source of tp (tp=timepass) for her. My mom totally oohed and aahed over it. "Archu, its really nice. I love reading it. I totally agree with what one of your commentators has said. You do compile everyday happenings into a very interesting read." I had to point out to her that that was my comment for someone else! Mom was a bit dampened on hearing this news but bravely rallied around with "Oh, I still do think it applies to you too!" From that day, my mom checks my blog everyday without fail. Apparently during morning coffee, she first checks mails and then checks my sister's and my blogs.

Nowadays, thanks to gmail chat, it's a whole lot easier to catch my mom online. On a typical day, conversation goes like this:

Mom: *Did you eat well, sleep well, eat enough veggies and fruits and other yada yada*

Me: *Dutifully say yes, yes, yes for everything*

Mom: So, I checked your blog, you did not put up anything new.

Me: Oh, I just finished putting up a post.

Mom: *absolute silence*

Me: Mee ('mummy' has been shortened to 'Mee' by sis and me over the years)? Are you there?

Mom: *some more slience*

Me: Buzzz!

Me: Ping!

Me: Hola!

Mom (finally): I just finished reading your post. Nalla irukku (it's good). (She always says 'nalla irukku' irrespective of what I write)

Me: I am chatting with you live right now and you ignore me to go and read my blog - grrr!

Mom: I couldn't wait. It's nice to read la!

Me: !?!

Yesterday, I was making my scheduled weekly phone-call home. After all general yada, yada, my mom told me that she just read my latest post. I told her that it was just a general update on my everyday life. Mom immediately said that I should put up new posts everyday even if it is just everyday stuff and then she would read it. I was like "Mee! Hello! I email you practically every single day with every single event of my happening life!". And my mom went "I know, but I still like reading your blog better". I was speechless!

With such an ardent fan, can I even contemplate ignoring my blog? Of course, I know that my number one fan is completely biased and in her eyes I am *always* THE BEST (along with sister dear). But it's still nice :-)!

Come to think of it, my whole family always roots for me. My own, personal, three-member cheerleading troop. On call 24/7. Great :-D!

Tantara-tan-tan-taan!

Hullo folks! This is Archana's blog here. I know I have been maintaining silence all along - me being very discreet, modest and everything. But today looks like the day I need to break my silence to have some self-celebration. Ideally A should have done something about it and thrown me a surprise party and all but *sigh* since she has happily forgotten (hmph, I notice she wasted no time in making announcements on her special day), before the day ends, let me announce: I officially turn four years old today :-D.

Yup, I came into existence on e-blogger on April 25, 2002. A created me as a fad because some of her friends and other people she knew had created such accounts. Of course, after that, she wrote exactly two entries before forgetting me completely. Thankfully, all the hype about blogging reunited us last year. Since then, we connect at least once a week most of the time. And that's how, though I have been active only for one year, I am still four officially (hmm, four years sounds old and wise(!?!) in the blogging world)!

From being a for-her-eyes-only blog, I have evolved into something which is shared with other people too! Wheee - I am growing up :-)! I said I am modest but I admit *sheepish grin* - I am really enjoying the additional attention :-)! Thanks to all the people who take the time to pay attention to me. Some more thanks to all the people who also take time to fill up my comment-space and thus make me into an interactive two-way communication channel! This place has become even more lively and fun now!

A's a bit lazy and sometimes stays away from me - but I do know that she likes me a lot and cannot ignore me for too long. Here's to wishing Archana and me many more years of happy togetherness!

p.s. A should be back shortly. She's been a bit on the busy side lately (that still does not excuse her forgetting my birthday like this, though!). Thanks Prabhu and Saranya for asking!

Intoxicated by attention!

After giving my poor blog the royal ignore for more than a month, on an impulse, I decided to check it out today. To my pleasant surprise, I found comments on my previous posts from strangers. Wow!! Without any advertisement my blog got readers and attention??? That's an intoxicating thought! From now on, I am going to make a sincere effort to blog more regularly now that I know somebody other than me reads it. Thank you reader-folks!

A Discovery!
Yesterday, as I went through blogs created by family and friends, I was suddenly racked by curiosity as to who had hogged the blogger site with my first name. And I typed out archana.blogspot.com. The site popped up (with some really silly background having pink kittens) and to my horror I found that it had my name and my thoughts on it. My heart raced as I thought through a 1984-ish possibility where somebody monitors everything you do, albeit with a technological advancement which comes up with on-demand thought-publishing websites depending upon who types out the web-site name. Then this scenario sounded too outlandish even to my generally vivid imagination and as I calmed down it came back to me - long ago, in 2002 to be precise, I had on a whim created an e-blogger account. After a few posts I forgot all about it and this site was the very same one that I had created (though I swear I still dont know who chose that pink-kitten background).
Well, well, well - what a discovery! I actually had a blog account with my first name without the usual _ or numbers or other additions because 'archana' being as common a first name as it is, just the name is always taken. In my enthusiasm since this discovery, I have promised to myself that I will be a regular blogger and have also revamped my original blog settings a bit.

Hmm...my first day of using blogger. Hope I maintain this journal atleast! Yesterday was a lazy evening. I was soo happy after finishing with my discussion and presentation. Went for cakes with vijay in the evening and did general chat. After that, home - eating sleeping and reading my book! God, I hate this "strong medicine" book. I hate eth abt it wonder y i am still bothering to read it though..hmm mebbe its coz i dont have ath else to read!
Today morn got up at 8:45 am...aah! this is life..planning to take my driver's permit test tomorrow..lets see!