Status Report

Blogging has been scanty the last few weeks. Not only on here, but on other websites too.

Alot of distractions have not allowed me to focus much: last week of classes before summer, brother arrived from Texas yesterday, another cousin arrives tomorrow, we hang in Spain for a week and then we go to Dubai on June 4 for 3 weeks. My first time back ever since I moved to Madrid.

It kinda feels like the end of an era -- but it's not the end of anything really. I will be back in Madrid in 3-weeks and my life will resume as normal, with a fresh mind, new thoughts, new projects, new aspirations...well, that's what I hope, anyway.

So I'm a stew pot of emotions on many levels right now. I'd like to blog about them but I feel that since the emotions involve many other people and plans, and are rather profound, they are too private to share publicly. I'm more worried about the people involved reading about it than anything else, and I'm not good at writing sparsely or discreetly, so I rather not. I don't want to deal with other people reactions to my emotions -- so it's better this way.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, in the beginning I used to be more carefree about splurting out how I feel, and often found solace imagining that I'm being listened to -- even if it's by random strangers. I think it's what made my blog a joy to write, now I'm more guarded about opening up publicly -- not sure why. Perhaps that will change. Perhaps not.

I will be posting, but not as frequently. I hope you stay tuned!

Am I about to experience "reverse culture shock?"

Going home in a few weeks and I have a scrambled feelings about it...this is the subject of my latest post on Vagablogging -- check it out here.

Question of the day

To all those married and on Facebook:

"Why do you communicate with each other on Facebook?"

From Argentina to India to me

Docu-Madrid (a 2-week documentary film festival) has just started and yesterday Boyfriend and I watched 5 films -- yes we totally doc-ed out! :)

My favourite was one called Fotografías, which is the autobiographical story of an Argentinean man who has an Indian mother. His mother ran away from her traditional, suppressed household to be free and see the world; she landed up marrying an Argentinean man and moving there.

Her life in India prohibited her as a women from doing anything, it represented her imprisoned life and she wanted to be as far away from it as possible, both physically and mentally -- so unfortunately while his mother was alive, he was never really exposed to India.

The movie is his quest to discover his mother's life in India, understand her legacy, and explore his Indian bloodline. His story begins in Argentina as he looks through childhood photos, speaks to an Indian guru living in Buenos Aires, and studies the life of an Hispanic author who was the first Argentinean man to go to India in 1911. He speaks to everyone who knew his mother, and befriends an Argentinean who spends most of his time in India as a tour guide.

With this background and many a told stories, he heads Madras in India, to see his mother's birthplace and reconnect with that side of his family.

The film documents the story of this Argentinean man, who because of his mixed-blood and estranged family in India, is lost about the other half of his identity. Realizing his ignorance and wanting to find a part of his identity he knows nothing about, triggers his endeavors to fill the gaps by finding his mother's side of the family, therefore finding himself in some way.

His story is beautifully told, full of emotions ranging from feelings of emptiness and confusion that lead to deep curiousity, resulting in him finding a life of his he never knew existed. He unravels his story, layer by layer, and takes you on this mysterious journey that begins in Argentina, dips deep into traditional India, and ends up back in Argentina. His discoveries give him a new family, a new understanding of his mother, and of his Indian bloodline.

Although my life story is not remotely mysterious, nor confusing, as and Indian who has lived in 5-countries over 28 years, I could relate to his identity-crisis. Not knowing enough about where you come from or where you belong, can often leave you perpetually drifting, and sometimes even hollow. You don't know what to be patriotic about, you can't relate clearly to your home-place: you know you belong there, but you are not sure what you'd do if you had to move back there...things like that.

The film made me want to go back to India and travel. I have traveled a lot of the world, but not enough of my own country, that's quite sad. It's funny how I don't feel like I belong in India, nor am I patriotic -- yet I am proud of my country, I feel Indian, and I take it for granted, yet I don't really know enough about my country, not physically, not historically. Everything in my mind is confused about my "Motherland". My only solid connection is my family there and my memories from high-school in Aurangabad -- a small town near Pune.

Anyway, I'm delving into a subject that doesn't really have a conclusion, nor does it need one. Exploring my country should be the next priority on my list of things to do -- that should take care of many things, no?

Off to Prague!

Am off to Prague for the next 5-days -- a much needed break from Madrid and my computer!

Stories when I get back!

How Important Is Blogging For Your Career As A Travel-Writer?

This is the latest subject of discussion at Written Road. I was lucky to get some great input from some of the best travel-bloggers/writers/editors/authors in the industry. Check it out here!

Quote for the day

"The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it." -- A Bend in the River; 1979 novel by V. S. Naipaul.

Ouch.

Career Advice From A Manga Comic

A short attention span is the main peril in the quest of trying to achieve anything these days, at least for me.

My attention span these days is a whole 15 seconds; if you can't keep my attention for that long when telling me something, I'm mentally off to Neverland. If I care about you, I'll make the effort to listen, but otherwise -- forget it.

Same goes for reading (books, online), movies, studying, planning, what have you. This is not helpful at all, and is seriously affecting my productivity -- especially because what I do is on my terms. The pressure I have is from me, and only me, so it's not hard to prolong things, or simply invent a million things to do to keep yourself mentally stimulated. This is a problem I'm working to fix. Avoiding multitasking, making short concise lists of things to do etc etc, are my baby steps towards getting things done by paying focused attention to them until they are done.

Anyway, I digress. I had to laugh when I saw on Amazon books, career advice for those with a short attention span. It was a consolation realizing that I'm definitely not the only one and better off than others; I'd actually read a good career book in full, without it having to be a comic. Obviously many can't even do that, hence a market for this book.

The promo for the book written in form of a Japanese Manga comic made me chuckle, this is how it ends:

In the 70's and 80's, people asked "What Colour Is Your Parachute?"
In the 90's, people asked "Who Moved My Cheese?
Now a new generation is asking the question about their work: "WTF?"

The book is called "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need", check it out along with its promo, here.

Just what every woman wants to hear...

"A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her."
-- Oscar Wilde.

Some quotes should just not be allowed to get famous.

Does blogging kill?

Well, I certainly hope not.

If there is any job description you can give me, it's that of a blogger. That's what I am, that's really all I do. I've just started blogging for another site called Planet Eye, that will make it a total of 6 sites I blog for regularly (including mine).

Across all, I churn out at least 50 posts a month -- at the end of which many times I just want to scream, or pick up my laptop and throw it out the window. The latter I can't afford to do at the moment :)

But anyway, a friend sent me a link today with the subject "be careful". The link pointed to a story in the NY Times that reports a feature on the death of two prolific bloggers, and the unhealthy lifestyles of other well-known bloggers.

Of course, blogging cannot be called the cause of death but the lifestyle it warrants is unhealthy enough to cause serious mental and physical problems.

Blogging can often get the better of you. I have spent days locked in my room blogging and felt the depressing side-effects of it. It is a lonely, isolating, tedious, and often frustrating profession.

The only way to stay sane as a blogger is to not compromise on social activities, but when you get paid per post, it's hard not to just stay in and write instead -- after all you do need to pay bills.

I'm happy to say that although I do fall into that trap sometimes, I'm good at dragging myself to go out, even if it's on my own. You'll find that being away from your computer and socializing will give you small bursts of very productive time blogging. I'm out with people at least 3-4 times a week, and at least once on the weekend. I hate teaching English, but it gets me out and makes me speak to people, a good paid break from the computer screen. I play sport, run and salsa to keep me physically healthy.

So, I'm not worried about "dying as a blogger". It's probably because I'm not as addicted or obsessed with it like many others. Also, although I thoroughly enjoy blogging (probably because I do it in large but controlled doses), over this year I have realized that I cannot be a full-time blogger. I don't love my computer enough and am far too much of a social being. This article, nonetheless was an interesting read, one that every blogger will be able to relate to.

Fellow bloggers: be careful!

Aamir Khan's Blog?

As I was updating myself on the China-Tibet issue I stumbled upon Aamir Khan's blog today (he's one of the torch bearers for the Olympic games). Now, I have stumbled upon many celebrity blogs -- both Indian and international -- but they have obviously been blogs for pure PR purposes, most definitely written by people hired to blog on their behalf. That's enough to never want to go back to them.

But when I saw Aamir Khan's blog today, I read a good number of posts and you know what? -- I ACTUALLY THINK IT'S HIM!

He writes like he speaks, he gives life updates that could only come from him, he has spelling mistakes (surely a paid writer wouldn't DARE have typos if he was writing for AAMIR KHAN!), and he has over a 500 comments on every post he has written.

I'm trying to think why I got so excited about this discovery. Aamir Khan is one of my favourite Indian actors; not only is he a phenomenal artist but is also an active social worker who has more often than not, used his fame to make a difference in needy societies. He has a strong and powerful personality that particularly shines through because in public he is very down to earth, he doesn't act like he is a hotshot superstar.

So, I suppose the fact that I can now read stuff that seems like it's totally written by him(?) got me looming.

If any of you have time and the remote desire to help me figure this out, can you read his blog and tell me if you think it's real? Or is it just a great attempt by Aamir Khan's PA?

El Canto Del Loco new disc launch

Yesterday I went to my first press conference as a journalist. It was for the launch of El Canto Del Loco's (one of Spain's most popular pop boy bands) new album - so it was obviously a big and "important" one.

I have probably organized and attended 15o press conferences, but only as a public relations professional, it felt strange being on the other side.

But honestly, it's so much better attending a press conference as opposed to organizing one. I felt like that one hour I was at the conference was worth it because I was there to listen and to learn about something new; after which I'd have to write about it and I would be a mouthpiece for what I saw and grasped.

It also put into perspective what I did when I was in public relations. So many hours of work for one simple press conference: designing and producing press packs, writing and translating the press releases and backgrounders, photographs for the press packs, captions for the press packs, venue set up, venue branding, podium, mics, projector, teleprompters, menu for the event, press invites, press confirmations, press list, follow-up calls etc etc -- all that work for something that wouldn't last more than an hour and leave me wondering, what was all that for exactly?

I felt like a princess at this press conference. I was there for my brain, as a guest -- what I do with the experience afterwards is up to me -- it was strangely empowering and I felt better after that hour than I ever have after any press conference I've organized. Weird huh?

Anyway, those who care to know about El Canto Del Loco -- they were really pleasant, down to earth, and approachable for how big they are. I was shocked that it started on time -- something that rarely happens in celebrity conferences. They were happily mingling with the crowd after -- you could get all the kisses, autographs and photos you wanted. All the press -- print, TV, and radio alike -- got all the footage, photos and quotes they wanted, with no hassle or drama at all. I went on behalf of European Vibe and will be doing my write-up soon.

I wanna go to The Next Web Conference!

In my quest as a prolific blogger to become a more efficient one and get my geek juices flowing more vigourously, as I look for web conferences out of pure curiousity, I was thrilled to find one in Europe for a change!

April 3 and 4 (shucks, that's like NOW), The Next Web Conference will be held in Amsterdam. They have an orgasmic list of speakers, who are mainly incredibly talented web entrepreneurs, including:

• Garret Camp: Founder and Chief Architect of Stumble Upon!
• Erick Schonfeld:Formerly editor-at-large at Business 2.0 and currently co-editor at Techcrunch.com.
• Werner Vogels: Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Amazon.com
• Jessicah Mah: A 17 year old serial entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college.

It's an expensive conference but, in support of bloggers, they have a blogger's discount (YAAAAY) which I'm desperately trying to get, and if I do -- I'M GOING TO TAKE THE NEXT FLIGHT OUT TO AMSTERDAM!

Well, probably not. The discount is for industry bloggers, argh, but oh well -- no harm trying, eh?

All I need to do is write a post (which is this) put a badge (which you can see on this post) and email "babette"(I have no idea who that is so I'm going to email some Patrick instead).

I'm pushing my luck, but if you are a tech blogger in Europe and want 500 bucks off the conference pass, you still might be able to get it.

My story of trying to be a travel-writer...

...in case any of you are interested, I have posted my katha here.

Calling all Indian bloggers!

I 'm pretty impressed with the budding blogging scene in India. Wait a minute, is it budding? I find that hard to believe, India being the technology capital of the world and all. I don't know why but I perceive that blogging in India is relatively in its nascent stages as compared to the so called "international" scene. I think I feel that because I don't see many quality blogs, nor do I see much integration of India-based blogs on popular international pages such as Technorati, Del.icio.us., Stumble Upon, Twitter etc -- but then again, maybe I haven't been paying enough attention.

Anyhoo, there are numerous attention grabbing Indian blogs, but the two that stick out for me are a)Sepia Mutiny b) Mutiny. Fine writing, intelligent and knowledgeable insight, and witty. It's the kind of stuff I'd like to write. I'm just so all over the place at the moment I doubt I'd be able to give grounded commentary like they do, but then again, I've never tried. (Maybe I will write them and see my chances hmmm). A must read for any Indian -- do check them out if you haven't already.

On that note, I thought I'd mention the India Blogathon that begins next month. As it aims to bring together Indian bloggers from all over the world to talk about issues affecting us locally and globally, I'm quite excited to see what comes of it and have all intentions to participate.

It's a 7-day event where a certain topic will be posted every day. You can participate by leaving a comment or re-posting an entry with respect to the topic on your own blog, and the best bloggers will be identified by a jury (not yet announced). Details are a little sketchy on their website, but it's really simple, you don't need much more information.

Happy Indie blogging! :P

Bacon-Chocolate Cake

Is there something wrong with me if I find this extremely appetizing?

[Via American Madness]

Spooky Post

Two of my best friends who send me post and gifts EVERY month are Sanitas (my medical insurance) and Bancaja (my bank).

Also, since I've started writing for so many blogs, I often get emails from writers/publishers who would like to send me books (for free!) to enjoy (and of course review -- but that's my call). I send them my details and within a week I normally get a package.

Receiving expected post is great. Receiving unexpected post is AWESOME! (hint hint to all those people I religiously send postcards to). Except when it comes from a company you don't know.

Yesterday a book called "A Voyage Long And Strange'' by Tony Horwitz came knocking at my door. First I was ecstatic to receive a package; I opened it excitedly to see it was a book, I then impatiently opened the letter to see who it was from and was more annoyed than happy to see that it was from Henry Holt and Company in New York.

It's a good publishing house, the author is well known, and the book looks interesting -- BUT HOW DID THEY GET MY DETAILS? In Spain!?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My life is an open book. Google me and you can trace me back to my school days. However, I don't remember making my postal address in Spain public. I suppose my details were sold and I can't help but feel so vulnerable: people I don't know in NY, know exactly where I live in Spain and are sending me stuff to my doorstep.

On a positive note, it's a travel book not a free subscription to porn so I'm not too worried. Also, the book will hit the market on April 29 this year, so I'm one of the privileged lot to get my hands on it. That's pretty cool.

A reason why I love my brother...

Bro: Didi, what's that salsa song that was always played in salsa class that goes "Sexy...na...naaa...na...naaa"?

Me: Huh. Are you serious?

Bro: DIDI! how can you not know -- how many English salsa songs exist with "sexy" in the lyrics!?

Me: Urrr....a million!

Bro: Oh, Ok.

Anish, you crack me up :))) [note: this was a typed conversation!]

How long should you travel and live abroad?

I've talked about this to death with my family: answer? It's time to go back to University, as a means of getting back to a "normal" life. That's what I'm working towards (eeeeeekkkkk), let's see what I actually land up doing.

Dad, would you freak out if I decide to move to the Dominican Republic where I will open a little bar and write? OK OK relax, I am still studying for my GRE :)

This is the subject of my latest post at Vagablogging. A little discussion has started, you can check it out here.

GO AWAY FACE!

Is anyone as annoyed as I am with this face? I SEE IT EVERYWHERE ONLINE. EVERYWHERE!!