November 30, 2005

We Can Make a Difference

In the fifth article of the ongoing series "Hum Blogistani" Saket Vaidya maps his own blog journey and ponders on the impact of blogging. Saket maintains that the phenomenon is still urban and predicts that blogging from Indian Corporate would be the next big thing.

Saket is a recruiter-headhunter in the technology domain, working for the executive search division of a major Indian job portal. He has been blogging since June 2004, better known as Vulturo in the trade. Saket is an avid reader of Indian blogs and a contributor to the team-blog Desipundit.

Hum Blogistani!

W
riting an article, pursuing the course of the Indian blogosphere through the times can be an exciting experience. Despite not having been an ‘early bird’ blogger, I still have a lot to remember. The past year and a half has been a period, where I learnt a lot about myself, and the world around me.

November 26, 2005

The power of the collective conscious

Continuing the series “Hum Blogistani!" we present the fourth article of the series where Chandrachoodan dwells upon the power of blogging, its ability: to take-up causes and follow them up to the hilt.

Chennai based copywriter Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan has been a well-known signature in the Indiblogging community. His posts almost always carry a tint of wit and humour. After blogging incessantly for about 2 years, Chandroo recently pulled the plug and bid-adieu to blogging, which he subtly hints has been “a childish attempt to be popular". But we sincerely hope he would be back.

Hum Blogistani!Long ago, so long ago, there lived a great person. Herman Ebbinghaus. Or not so great. I ain't debating that. Nevertheless, this person did exist. And he did do something in life. What, you might ask. Well, he came up with some thing called the Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting. Big, big words. Very simple thought. No matter what the subject matter is, a given piece of learning is forgotten by more than half its audience in one hour.

Remember this very carefully. In exactly one hour, I will give you folks a surprise test. And we'll prove Herr Ebbinghaus wrong.
That, folks, is the subject of this rather rambling piece. That blogs defeat the Ebbinghaus Theory. A blog, by its very nature, tends to keep issues and learning fresh in the mind of its readers, and by extension the society.

November 23, 2005

The Great Indian blog bhelpuri

In the third article of the series “Hum Blogistani!” where various bloggers are doing some self-contemplation we present Charu’s take on the theme. Charu suggests that the Indiblogdom, with its growing size, should start focusing on the content, do away with the “personal” journals and shed inhibitions of blogging about one’s profession.

Charukesi Ramadurai Charukesi Ramadurai is a Mumbai based independent qualitative research consultant and one of the popular female bloggers of Indiblogdom. Her blog “A time to reflect” was adjudged the best new Indiblog at the Indibloggies 2003 and is one of the widely read and respected blogs. Charu also blogs at Mindspace and Mediamusings, a collablog on the Indian media scene.

A
post reminiscent of the Indian blogosphere's journey so far - the idea struck home immediately. For, I am forever reminiscing about the "good old days" of Indian blogging. The good old days, meaning a couple of years ago when there were fewer bloggers, more personal interaction between the bloggers, and certainly lesser nastiness. I guess, with size comes other complications.

Hum Blogistani!I have been blogging for over two years now, and these two years have been extremely rewarding. From being a space to park my random thoughts, my blog has now become a space that triggers many new thoughts and ideas, mainly through the comments and discussions around the posts. I have met some wonderful people, online and later offline, people who otherwise would never be part of my life. And I am sure it is the same for most of us bloggers. At the same time, I can sense a definite change in the space over this time. My feelings as I see the Indian blog space expand so quickly and so much are mixed. I watch with a somewhat amused and fond look (if that sounds pompous, I admit it but I take my “old blogger” status seriously!); I see the space grow larger than I ever thought possible, and feeling a little perplexed by it too.