Five Years-indeed a long time

Hi,all!Well,I did mention a special post planned for today. And,so,here we go. What's special? Nothing much,except that it's now five years since I wrote my first post on rediffblogs,with the same id,i.e. http://amitsmusings.rediffblogs.com/

Instead of going back five years,let me begin with today and then go backwards to the first post,just for a change.

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Today,blogging is my absolute favourite pastime. Why? Numerous reasons-firstly, I always loved reading,and, what better source to read,than,the unknown?i.e. Blogs-written by people from all over the world(Though,of course,I'd say-I must be reading less than .01% of the world's blogs-has anyone done a consensus on how many blogs exist?LOL).'Unknown',of course,means,I can never predict what I'll find on my favourite blogs.

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Some blogs and bloggers have become my 'staple diet', and, if they haven't posted when I click their blog link, it seems like there's something missing in the day. The most regular and enigmatic writers from my list are Keshi,Sol,Austy,Red,Amy-each one is unique and each one has a different writing style which,the more I read of,the more it makes me feel'Yeh dil maange more'(The heart demands more)as the Pepsi ad goes.*grins*

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But then,the list still continues-there're those who write a bit less frequently,but,when they do,they also come up with gems- from Arunima to Alka(Who writes on such pertinent topics-hats off!) to Anz to Shreya to Curious to Cyn(Cynic in Wonderland, whose also been around for a pretty long time,and,is always telling us anecdotes of her workplace) to Dreamz to Payal to Poo(who's always got something humorous to say on her daily life events) to Ditty (one of the rare few who was blogging back then,too,and continues nicely!Did you encourage Poo to blog,Ditty?I'm sure.:)) to Twilight to Alpha(Who's my 'blog twin',courtesy we both started blogging around the same date and who has a flair to write humorously)Vanilla to Ritu to San to Sush to Sakhi to Dee.....in fact, if you're really curious,you should check out my entire favourites list-and,at ease-when you have ample time to read,not just for the heck of it.Then,you'll realize why I love these blogs(and bloggers *grin*) so much.:). BTW,the list is being updated today, with those who're not posting,being removed..haha!(And,when you do post regularly,you'll back in the list,coz I'll still have the urls with me).

Let me go back a bit,now...when I switched over from rediffblogs to blogspot. The reason was simple- rediff kept conking off- I'd write a post,it wouldn't be auto-saved(I began writing in word,first,as a way out) sometimes,and it'd be really frustrating to have to type again.At other times, I couldn't log on,or,the update wouldn't be visible. And,they began focusing more on their other site,rediffiland.And,with most other bloggers being on blogspot,I decided to follow suit. And, no regrets. Actually,no regrets about rediff,too- it was great fun posting there,as well. But,on Aug 03,2007,I moved permanently to blogspot,even though my first trial was in June'04.(I always refuse to give up,till the situation's extreme,you know..LOL)

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Back in 2003,what enticed me to blogging? Well,for one,I just clicked accidentally on rediff,on the blogs link.And,it said'Welcome,start your own blog!and,went on to list' publish your thoughts,online,anytime, participcate in lively discussions and communuties,make new friends.And, it still says that!!Check it out! But, now, it's like a stepsister of rediffiland.What a downfall,from the days when, to have one's blog listed in their left panel,titled' Sizzling Blogs',would be an occasion for celebration. Heaven knows when the list was last updated,but,you can see one of the bloggers' names there,who inspired me then,to go on blogging.

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It was 'Jottingz'-the lil lady used to write totally facinating posts(Jots,if you're reading this,you'd better reply,and,also,tell me when you're beginning blogging again).

Then,there was(Still is,albeit in a new avatar) Pixel,who now posts on becauseofb and her blog who, besides posting,would come up with the most intriguing photos,taken from the most unusual angles,and,leave it to us to guess what the pic was.See for yourself. Now,of course,there's a new fotu-blog,too.The lil lady's now in NID,Abad,the place where most such artistic people go and still posts the most facinating pics n posts!:) Pix,I mean,Bhavs,if you're reading this,do comment.

Then,there's Starlight, who's Mauritius based,very much in touch via email/sms,but,not blogging yet..I've been promised that she's going to restart blogging with a bang(Kams,u listening?),and,am just waiting to read her exciting posts,again. That's another good writer who inspired me to keep on blogging,in my initial stages.

There were other inspirations,too-Mehak(Who's in touch,but,out of blogging-will you please return,ma'm?)Wandy,Wunderkind,Snegius(Well on the way to becoming a Doc,now),Ms. Maxmax,....*tries to recall more*..

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And,what about Dubai?We've had some nice blogger meets -where Pixel,Dreamz,Godo,Curious,Lazydad,Manubhai,Ashi,KKJ,Sid and Tan(When they visited Dubai),...were present.And,it was great fun,since they were all actively blogging at that time.Now,of course,just a handful of us blog from Dubai,and,visit each others blogs-Dreamz,Curious,Harsha..and,that's surprising,coz if you see the UAE community blog, it has a massive list of bloggers. Let me mention another lively blogger,Mona from Indonesia,who visited Dubai on work duty a number of times,and we had a blog meet or 2 with her.She's a big fan of Hindi movies and also loves mango lassi.:)

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Then,there have been blog fights (Wherein I was not a party,just The Observer) where people would be 'katti' with each other,would conspire,form teams,not visit the enemies' blogs...

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And,there've been blog marathons,where bloggers from round the world logged on to yahoo messenger,and talked and talked and sang and talked,some of them for 14 hrs- they were Anz and Deepak,who finally 'won',the last marathon I was a part of. Deepak reminds me,I find it pretty unusual-why're there so few guys into blogging- I can name the ones who've been a part of my blogroll,on my fingertips- Deepak,Godo,Gautam,Manu,Khotta,Kash,Taran. And,most of them lose interest over a period of time-either family issues or work or travelling.

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Lastly,I can't end this post,and not mention Between Us Friends(BUF,as it's known amongst us),another blog where I love to hang out,though many of the Friends there,are somewhat busy these days. hehe...BUF is the brainchild of Ishita who wanted a nice blog-place for friends to hang out,and share views on common topics,and,well,you have to see the blog to see how nicely it's planned out-we have topics on a monthly basis,and,everyone contributes their views on the same.And,there's book reviews,movie reviews,birthday/anniversary dedications..to name a few. I'm quite sure BUF will be around for a long time to come!:)

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That's pretty much what I wanted to convey. It's been a looong post,and,I'm sure some of you fell asleep while reading it. And,those I didn't mention,please don't mind-it's purely unintentional.

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Thanks a million,,everyone,for being around,always!Your blogs gave me a raison d' etre to keep up with my favourite subject(English), to continue reading and,of course,writing!!:)Cheerio!

(Quip: That's a 'die-hard' blogger!)

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Footnote: Oops- I just got a comment from another great blogger:Sonali,whose unusual blog name was Khamakha.Great to see your blog again,Sonali..will surely add it to my blogroll,shortly!!