It was not until I started drafting this post, I realized that it is already two years since I first posted at Horizon. There have been a frenzy of activity when I used to make 3 posts per day, and , also the times when there would be no postings for more than 3 – 4 months. I have come across some wonderful people along the way like Ramdas , Vishesh , Priya , Arthi , Kumar , Ramya , Shiva , ExpatGuru , Prashanth , Marcia , Bruce , Alex , Lisa , Frederick , and many others through blogger.
Here I must mention that the seeds of acquaintance bloomed into friendship on account of an unwritten code of ethics that each of us followed up to the tee. None of us have requested the other person’s personal details, and we do not flood each other’s inbox with mindless fwds. If only the rest of the cyber-population would follow this, internet would be a much safer place. But then, where there is light, there is shadow.
Slowly, without even realizing, I began to stray towards niche blogging. Poems by Priya , Vishesh , Arthi , & Shiva had such a strong influence on me, that even before I knew it, I was penning my own poems as comments in their blog. Unlike prose, poetry is not mindless chatter. It requires deliberation and involvement of intelligence and intellect.
Priya and Arthi continuously insisted that have my own poetry blog where I can keep a record of the verse that I had penned in reply to their poems. They would reason with me telling that , “With every new post, the previous post and its comments gets buried deeper and deeper into the archives. There is no way you can get back your poems even if you really wanted to”. It took them almost 2 months of gTalking to convince me and ” Appreciating Poetry ” was born.
Many of you might be wondering over the lack of activity at ” Appreciating Poetry “. It would be dishonest to say that I am no longer inspired. I am more than inspired.. I am awed. Presently, I am in europe, and the hotel wifi is highly unpredictable ( connectivity lasts from 10 min to 2 hrs only per day). And for poetry, I require to stare right into those words, only then they would rhyme intune with my thoughts. With limited internet, it was becoming extremely difficult for me to “connect with poetry”.
Imagine my surprise, when one fine morning I see a mail from a fellow blogger ( who pens extremely lovely poems) enquiring if I will still be here in Europe. She further outlines her plans to drop by even though it is a bit detour for her. Unmindful of the fact that I am browsing from a public terminal, it was toothy-grin. Plans were laid and schedules were discussed. We have exchanged mails and had voice chat over gTalk in the past. But, never for once we requested photographs, not wanting to inadvertently offending the other person. I would call this as a tech-age-pen-friend. I was so filled with excitement the night before; it was well past midnight when I did manage to get some shut-eye.
I must say, even if we lived across the street, we would hardly recognize each other. All that was required was a squeaky “hi” from both of us, and instantly we were transformed from strangers to long lost friends. For once, our spouses were spellbound and had no idea how to react. Little did we imagine in our wildest dreams that we would meet halfway across the globe. The plan was to drop by for an hour, but eventually stayed up until dinner. Oh …boy ! we did enjoy those moments.. Didn’t we Priya ?
Deepa,
I was really thrilled to see my name mentioned in your blog.Thanks buddy.I could sense the enthusiasm in your words.Guess you had a wonderful time :)).Blogging had indeed showed me a different dimension. I really wonder how perceptions vary with people.For instance Dasavatharam movie had multiple perceptions across this blogosphere.I have indeed started analyzing things differently,step in other’s shoes and give a thought,importantly have started reading a lot.Indeed blogs are like Digital Diary writing but there are limits we should stick on to 🙂
BTW Congrats for providing wonderful information for the past two years.Continue your work.Kudos!!
lol that is nice to hear…when are u going to come back???!!
Hi Ramya,
Thanks for the appreciation. It was a pleasure know you too.
The first post, and the first comments were the most difficult part to blogging.
After that, this becomes more like a habit, as if checking one’s mail
Looking forward to read more posts from you in the future.
Hi Vishesh.
Thanks, well..i too want to be back home ASAP. ..hmm.. lets see
Wow! What a rendezvous !! Hope you had a great time together.
Glad to see the mention of my blog in the post
Thanks Deepa
Deepa, It was refreshing to read this post. I agree with you on the new-age-pen-pal idea. Blogging has given me some very good and like-minded friends. People, I would never have met otherwise.
Shiva,
Yes indeed… it is a great feeling… words dont justify the feeling
Kaunquest,
//Blogging has given me some very good and like-minded friends. People, I would never have met otherwise//
Well said..could not agree more
I still have your player running in the bg.. destresses me a to a great extend
Hi, Congrats on crossing the two year milestone. I have always enjoyed reading your blogs. Thanks for that.
It’s really warming to read your rendezvous with Priya. Feel happy for both of you.
/For once, our spouses were spellbound and had no idea how to react/
…lol
Have a wonderful time.
Hi Kumar,
Thanks for dropping by..
yup.. it was great,,,
cant stop rambling about this with people at home..
Hi Deepa!
It is really great feeling to meet online friends. So much fun!
Ask me, I’ve recently met someone 🙂
I’m sure you had a great time!
GBU
Arti
Deepa,
She cooked a special pongal for us and it was so yummy:)
Its a memory unfolded girl. Tk.
Hi Arti,
Glad that you dropped by.
So, who was it.. lets break the suspense.
Dearest Deepa,
What a pleasure to come upon this post, in which you kindly mention me!
I had checked “Appreciating Poetry” a while back, and wondered where you were.
I hope you are well and happy, and hope that one day we may yet meet, as kind, caring and respectful friends, descriptions which you have fully lived up to, my friend.
Best wishes,
Lisa