Schmooze Awards

 

Schmoozing:
To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection. —Dictionary.com

Cuckoo, ‘Thank You’ for honouring RwB with ‘The Power of Schmooze Award’. (Cuckoo’s blog is truly an unplugged thought provoking journey who is on my blogroll since a long time.)

As she explains, “This award is “for blogger who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello – all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

(Actually, I’m surprised she awarded me this. I really doubt if I have the power of Schmooze.)

As per the Schmooze rules, those who receive must turn around and give it to five other bloggers. I gladly pass it on to the following five:

Shruthi
An inspirational blogger who has been around for quite a while in the blogosphere and a great schmooze blogger who is really good at networking with others. Her blog is highly ranked and one of my favourites.

Kishor Cariappa
A blogger whom I admire from afar. The fact that he shies away from publicity, always keeping a low-profile despite being a talented and friendly writer, keeps me intrigued. His posts are really very informative.

Srik
One of my earliest blog pals, Srik is seriously one of the nicest people on the internet. He leaves thoughtful, sweet and often flattering comments wherever he goes. Truly a gifted schmoozer.

Suresh G
Positive, Uplifting, and Empowering are the best words I can think of to describe Suresh’s blog. I always get a dab or two of inspiration over there. He offers insights and inspiration to his readers. Upon reading more of his blogs I knew I’d be a regular visitor.

Chitra Aiyer
Her blog is a blast and she has so much going on. Her R2I posts were instant hits. Sometimes I think I’m trying to do too many things at the same time, and then I go over there and see this lady managing so many things… Heck, I feel lazy then!

I could really go on with this list and name another five folks with ease, but I must stop at five. Now it’s up to these five schmooze-worthy folks to pass along this excellent award to others they believe have the power of schmooze.

Cuckoo, thanks again for selecting RwB as a Schmooze Award recipient, and best of luck to you on your continued efforts in blogging!

Tagged yet again!!

Firstly, apologies to Chitra for taking up this tag really late. She tagged me for the kinds of “people I judge” and for the “things I admire” way back in August.

So here I go-

Whom do I judge?

• Myself
  &
  People who:
• Follow poor personal hygiene
• Don’t keep up their word
• Talk behind others back
• Don’t respect time
• Criticise without rhyme or reason
• Do shoddy work
• Don’t act their age

Things I admire

• Good food, good films, good books, good music…
• Fantastic works of art
  &
  People who are:
• Organised 
• Full of patience
• Born with terrific sense of humour
• Endowed with amazing memory
• Sportive and cheerful even in adversity
• Talented orators/ writers/ artistes/ sportspersons

So – that’s done and I in turn tag* Dinsan, Neel3 and Vasuki Raghavan. Pass it on guys!

* To continue the tag, the above 3 victims were picked using the time-tested and accurate ‘Inky Pinky Ponky Selection Methodology’.

Previous tags:

• ‘Tagging’ isn’t as bad as ragging, well almost…
• Tagged again!
• What does blogging mean to me?

What does blogging mean to me?

Last fortnight, Gangadhar tagged me. Last week, I was reading this post Taggy …. Looking back! in Shark’s blog. I felt really nice reading her answers for all those questions about blog, bloggers and blogosphere. And this week, I got tagged by Vijay asking me to introspect about my blog. Is this a tagging season, I wonder!

Here I go…

1. Are you happy/ satisfied with your blog, with its content and look?

Looks wise, I am happy. The page has a clean white background with easy-to-read fonts. As for content, I would certainly like to do better. I envy when I read a few blogposts that are written excellently and wish I had written them.

2. Does your family know about your blog?

Yes (& my blog also knows about my family!). My wife, mother-in-law, uncles, aunts, sisters, nephew and nieces have all visited my blog. Waiting for my toddler son to read and comment in my blog in a few years!

3. Do u feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?

I don’t feel embarrassed to let people know about my blog. Some of my friends know about my blog. Would like to tell many more about my blog. Of course, I would definitely not brag about them everywhere.

4. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

Even before blogs started, I loved to read human interest stories. Newspapers and magazines were my source earlier. Now, apart from the papers and periodicals, I have the blogs where I get to read some fantastic stories. Blogs have been a steady source of information. I have made a lot of good friends through blogging. I think all these have caused many positive changes in my thoughts and outlook. Also, It is good to organise one’s stray thoughts. Writing them down imparts clarity. I have gained a lot by reading the comments of my blog friends, some of which have opened up new lines of thinking.

5. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

Before starting Rambling with Bellur, blog hunting and commenting was a favourite pastime. Even now, I often hunt for new blogs based on the topic of interest. Of course, I visit the blogs that I have blogrolled regularly.

6. What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

Visitor count is a reflection of how popular your blog is. It lets me know who is visiting me and why.

7. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

I have met a few of the bloggers, talked to a few of them and corresponded with a few others. I have imagined how my bloggers/ readers would look in real life. Some of them have displayed their images on their blogs which is also helpful to get a clearer picture.

8. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

You get to know a lot of smart people. You get to read their view points and experiences. You also get an opportunity to share your ideas and experiences with the blog world. I am glad that I started blogging as it has helped me in interacting with some of the best and brilliant minds. Recently, thanks to my blog, I got to chat with my next door neighbour after a long time.

9. Do you think that bloggers’ society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

Bloggers write about what is happening in their lives and what is happening around them. They write about their friends, colleagues and relatives and many other things. In that sense, I feel blogs are an extension of the real world and is no way isolated from it. There are a lot of bloggers (whom I know) exchanging E-mails and also keeping in touch over phone, besides the occasional bloggers’ meetings.

10. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing?

Constructive criticism does not annoy me. I always feel there is a scope for improvement throughout one’s life. But there are people who criticise for the sake of doing it, which is bad.

11. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them ?

Being addicted to newspapers and Politics, I neither fear them nor avoid them. Sometimes I look out for them. I like to look at politics in a satirical way.

12. Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

Recently, the government acted foolishly by blocking all the blogs coming in the blogspot domain and that was an act we need to dissent seriously. A blog is another medium of communication. Sad that some people find a way to misuse every new invention. Blog world too has its share of saints and sinners like the real world.

13. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

Alongwith the final rites that I hope my son would do to me after my death, I would want him to take a Print-out of my last published blogpost, burn the page and mix the ashes with my body’s and immerse both at Pashchimavahini. In fact, I want to do a ‘Gaya Shraddha’ to both me and my blog! I don’t want to become a ‘Ghostwriter’ anyway.

14. What do you like to hear? What’s the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?

I would love to hear Classical music, especially Thyagaraja Pancharathna Krithis by Balamuralikrishna, Shankarabaharana Raaga by MS Subbulakshmi, Sahana Raaga by MD Ramanathan, Karaharapriya Raaga by Mandolin Shrinivas, Umayalapuram Sivaraman’s Mridanga, Kaapi Raaga by Ustad Bismillah Khan, to name a few. I also love hearing the Vedic Hymns. Old Kannada and Hindi film songs, Ghazals by Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali and ‘Shakti’ are my favourites.

Would love to give a link to the Kannada folk song Dharani mandala madhyadolage known as Govina haadu which says the story of Punyakoti, the cow. Inspired by a folk tale, ‘Govina Haadu’ (The song of the cow) tells the story about Punyakoti, a pious cow. This simple and moving folk song ends with the triumph of the honest. Adbhuta, a hungry tiger, chances upon the gentle Punyakoti. The tiger is elated and gets ready to eat her. Punyakoti begs for a temporary stay so that she can go home to feed her calf. Adbhuta is certain Punyakoti will never return, but on good faith lets her go. Punyakoti feeds her calf, asks other cows to treat her little one as their own, and dutifully returns to the tiger. Adbhuta is stunned by this act of honesty, and stricken by guilt, chooses to jump off a cliff.

You can listen to the song here.
Also vist: http://mngudi.com/Gudi/govinahaadu.html

I now tag Mridula and Nilagriva plus anyone else who wants to take up this sweet taglet.

This was a very interesting tag and my honest thanks to Vijay for handing it over to me.

Tagged again!

Two months ago, I was tagged for the first time. And now, my friend Gangadhar has found me worthy of tagging.

So here are 8 things about me, which I am supposed to write:

1. I have this habit of writing down the movies that I saw in theatres since the age of four. The list tells who accompanied me to which movie and in which year/ theatre it was seen.

2. When I was a three-year old, the great musician MD Ramanathan treated me with a ‘Masale Dose’. The story goes like this. I waited for a particular song and he didn’t sing it in his concert. My uncle, who knew the singer personally, took me the next day to where MDR was staying. The singer asked me what ‘M.D.’ stood for in his name and it seems I said ‘Masale Dose’ . And not only did he treat me with my favourite number, he treated me with my favourite dish as well!

3. I am obsessed to the Rasipuram brothers, RK Narayan and RK Laxman, the divine singer MS Subbulakshmi and the great actor Dr. Rajkumar. As a personal tribute, have made scrapbooks and collages on all these legends.

4. Before sticking to Graphic Designing for bread and butter (read Anna-Saaru), tried my hand in Marketing (Cassettes- CDs; Pneumatic products; Gas kit for Cars; Newspapers; Computers. Of course, if you ask some of my friends, they will tell I still do marketing for CTR!), Singing, Journalism, Cartooning, Radio Jockeying, TV Anchoring and Copywriting.

5. I sing whenever I drive. And most of them, who have heard me while I drive, feel that they don’t feel the absence of a ‘Music System’ in my vehicle.

6. I have been ‘short’ tempered for quite a ‘long’ time!

7. On my recent visit to Ahobila, I sat on a rock and sang in the forest. I saw that a few wild animals kept staring at me all the while.

8. I was very excited to study at National institute of Design (NID). Almost made it through. But one of the interviewers told me, “More than NID, your mother needs you”. And I thank NID for rejecting me !

And my ‘Contract’ with Gangadhar also states me to tag six people. And I tag:
Shruthi
Srikanth
Travel Plaza
Kishor Cariappa
Sanjay
and
Shutter happy

‘Tagging’ isn’t as bad as ragging, well almost…

Tagging, I thought, was a children’s game in which one player pursues the others until he or she is able to touch one of them, who then in turn becomes the pursuer.

But there is a different type of ‘Tagging’ game played in the blogworld. Today, The ‘Professor’ has tagged me. And this is the first time I have been tagged. Somehow, even when my seniors caught me for Ragging, I wasn’t scared. But this ‘tagging’ business is little scary, I thought, until I started writing…..and I found it cool! So here goes!

I’m thinking about:
Newspapers and retired life.

I said:
Exams are the worst thing that happened to mankind. (And got one on my head from the invigilator)

I want to:
Get the whole world to taste CTR’s Benne Masale Dose.

I wish:
I had met RK Narayan and listened to his stories.

I hear:
My wife asking me from the kitchen: Did you change the baby’s diaper?

I wonder:
How some people can be so quick in Mathematics?!

I regret:
Not being quick in Mathematics.

I am:
Extremely unpredictable and moody.

I dance:
Whenever my prediction is right.

I sing:
Whenever I drive. OK, even when I am a pillion, I sing. Well, even when I walk, I hum along.

I cry:
When I watch Deewar, Sadma, The last scene in ‘Kamanabillu’ and also thinking about the most precious commodity in the world, Amma.

I’m not always:
Impatient and angry.

I make with my hands:
Cartoons, Collages and Coffee

I write:
Extremely long posts. And that makes me light.

I confuse:
Rarely. I think ten out of two people don’t confuse.

I need:
All the newspapers and magazines in the world published till date. And I also need the time to read them all, from the ‘Masthead’ to ‘Printed and Published…’

And finally:
I wish I had been born in Malgudi.

I tag Kishor, Gangadhar, Vijay, Travel Plaza and Sanjay