Going by last year’s BlogCamp-part-of-Barcamp, I figured it would be a series of important sounding sessions about SEO and monetization and techie tips. Such a pleasant surprise it was for my techno-greeky (Technology is Greek, Greek, Greek to me!) self to find myself sitting in on conversations about traditional media versus new media, personal blogging, live coverage during the terror attacks and sharing social media with our families!

I thoroughly enjoyed Thakkar’s humorous talk tracing his early blogging experiences right down to what his relatives thought he did for a living. Techies do have a sense of humour (I stand corrected!) and some of them, like this one are bloody brilliant!

The talk on traditional media and social media turned confrontational (and fun!) when I interrupted to share this experience of being misquoted in a national daily, not completely realizing that there were journalists from that very newspaper in the room. I come away with a slightly improved impression of people in the profession now. :-)

Rohan started off a talk titled ‘Reflections on blogging’ which lead to an interesting discussion of truth and knowledge, the future of power structures and the world as we know it. We concluded that Knowledge isn’t going to mean Power for very long as we increasingly move into an age of completely democratic, easy-access-for-all knowledge sharing through social media.

It was a personally fulfilling experience for me to address a talk on ‘Anonymity is a game of identity’ where I shared my twisted path through different URLs, multiple blogs, many identities and the schizo/blogicidal impulses that finally brought me to being Ideasmith today. I was surprised (as with so many of my posts) that people were actually interested in hearing what I had to say, many identified with it and still many others were appreciative of my speaking up. Thank you so much, fellow-bloggers, listeners and readers!

I’d like to add a few snippets from my own talk, just to add to the scrapbook of my blogging memories. When I entered the venue in the morning, the security guard asked for a photo-id. “Tricky”, I thought to myself since I had registered as Ideasmith. For a brief moment, I contemplated showing him a printout of my blog. It does have my photograph in the header after all!!! After a much roundabout conversation, I did manage to make it into the blogcamp.

Right after my session, a fellow tweeter in another city set about to discover my identity. Now why that should be of interest to anyone at all is beyond me since I have a pretty ordinary, if not boring real world name and life. But I guess the more of a mystery there is, the more curiosity there is being built up, regardless of the fact that the mystery may be completely not worth it. He succeeded in finding my name and published it which resulted in my having a ‘Oh my god, I’m choking! I’m freaking out!’ few moments. A quick couple of calls and that got sorted out. My faith in the blogosphere not just as social media but a social community is really restored. I’m much indebted to everyone who listened and was sympathetic to my albeit melodramatic outburst and who just ‘took care of it’ for me.

In a very strange sort of way it was as if my before-talk and after-talk experiences both added to my talk itself. Anonymity is something that I and a lot of other personal bloggers are still struggling with. All I can say is we’re not alone here. As soppy as it sounds, I’m just glad I connected with the techies at blogcamp and for the first time saw them as facilitators, friends even instead of ‘the other kind of bloggers’.

I was also really happy that I had a chance to meet Aham even though I came in a little late and missed most of his talk. I carry back from him, one of the sweetest compliments that anyone has ever paid me, as a blogger. When I spoke of having a unisex handle so as to combat allegations of getting hits only because I was a woman, he grinned and said,

You’d get hits even if you were a guy!

:-) And then it is always fun to catch up with other people I know from my social media activities like Meetu and Aalaap.

We ended with a hullaballoo, quite befitting for an unconference, a photo-session right in the middle of a dusty road and then jetted off to fuel up. From BlogCamp to HoggyCamp, I think it was a Saturday really very well-spent. Thank you Netra, Moksh, Hardik and Sampad for organizing this. You guys truly rock!

Mumbai Shutterbugs

Looking at the serious shutterbug activities in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi I was beginning to get a complex. Presenting our very own city shutterbugs. These are a buch of photo enthusiats, who meet periodically at a common place to capture some amazing pictures and share some cool tips. I had attended one of their outdoor shoots at the Dadar Flower Market. Its still in its infant stages, by which I mean there is a lot of stream lining to be done and loads of scope for improvement that is if they want to do serious photography with loads of fun. Nevertheless I am glad that these bunch of people have taken the initiative to come together. My take on the entire group is that most of them are pretty new to photography but there are quiet a few who has an eye for details. I also feel that such group get together is a great opportunity to learn/share new photography tricks/tips. So cheers to the team and hoping to see a lot of activities from these shutterbugs.
To dig more about this group’s activity check this link here.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Chirstmas and Happy New Year.

Agreed, this is on a short notice but believe me life is not all about blogging and fun. So yeah, it’s actually a favor that Melody and I are doing for you folks. Now stop gawking, you know it’s the truth.

Okay…Okay, on a more serious note this time round we have decided to go with the Brunch Theme (yes, so very innovative) – slightly on the higher side entry fee wise but hey, nothing’s really cheap re these days.

The invite basically says it all – yup, will be super cool if you could make it. And please confirm with us if you are seriously going to make, it makes life a hell lot easier.

Ps…would be super duper cool if you could let others know about it via your own blog/s. Thanks and looking forward to meeting the bloggy bunch soon.

Previous blog meet gupshups can be found here.

Oliver takes his mom and dad to go live in India for awhile. Dad works long hours and he, Oliver and mom try to learn how to survive in Mumbai, the craziest city in the world.

In the whole “world is a small place” vein…I have met Oliver’s parents and him at a birthday party in Brooklyn, last May. And our mutual friends introduced us and we did discuss about life in Bombay, since they were getting ready to move there. That conversation was the last of it, till I bump across their blog and see some familiar faces in the pics.

Check out the blog to get a perspective of our city from the eyes of a foreigner.

B for Bhendi
(A mild expletive or abuse. The ignorant might think this is local lingo for a vegetable (okra). The tapori knows better)

C for Chindi
(Some say it means insignificant. For others it denotes tight-fistedness. Eg: ‘Bindi is chindi. She won’t even pay for the trip.)

D for Dhasu
(It means great or fabulous. Like what a ‘dhasu’ idea it is to read this tapori talk)

E for Ekdum
(Not that hard to figure out. Ekdum means absolutely. So ekdum bekaar means absolutely useless)

F for Fadoo
(Good, fabulous or beautiful quite in the same vein as Dhasu. A fabulous broom might be explained as a ‘fadoo of a jhadoo’)

G for Ghanta
(Means rubbish or nonsense. If a politician claims: ‘I will eradicate corruption’, the janta comprising Santa-Banta might say Ghanta)

H for Hatke
(Hatke actually means original or slightly different. Not to be confused with ‘hat gayi hai’, which means he’s lost his marbles)

I for Item
(Used to refer to a sexy girl — Kya item hai. These days girls also use the word to describe a handsome man )

J for Jhol
(A common word for a scam or a bungle. Examples: What Jhol is all this?; Sounds like some jhol to me, yaar; Solid jhol in this poll)

K for Kalti
(This means to give somebody the slip or not keep a promise. It may also mean a turnaround. Example: Usne aaj kalti diya)

L for Lafda
(Fairly common usage for a squabble. The lafda can also have sexual connotation — Are they having a lafda (affair)? )

M for Maal
(Dial M for money. That is what maal stands for. It’s also a derogatory slang for a woman — Kya maal hai! )

N for Nastar
(This means bad omen or what is more commonly known as ‘panvati’.Or also means atheist)

O for Ookhad
(The word is used rather combatively. Two men in a skirmish might growl at one another: ‘Ookhad kar phek doonga’)

P for Punter
(It means source or informant. Yeh dekh punter aaya, is the way it is said)

Q for Qeeda
(This rather strange word means a person who is always up to something, some mischief or is posing as a major irritant)

R for Rapchick
(More commonly pronounced as ‘raaapchick’, it is used to refer to a sexy, curvaceous woman)

S for Sumbdi
(This stands for a rather secretive person or somebody who is clever enough not to reveal all. Not to be confused with shy or reticent)

T for Tapori
(These are roadside rowdies. Tapori talk is becoming more mainstream and losing its stigma)

U for Ungli
(A rather obvious obscene interpretation. It also means to bait or rile a person and try to get a rise out of them )
V for Vaat
(Means this is the end of you today. It all means the end, khatam, finito — Aaj toh vaat lag jayega)
W for Wohich
(It simply means him and him only — Wohich hai, aur doosra kohich nahi)

X for Xhun
(Xhun is used to describe the sound of a slap. Crack. Xhun se laafa maara)

Y for Yeda
(Also known as veda in Marathi. It means mad and used in a derogatory tone)

Z for Zandu
(Zandu stands for Lallu (not Prasad Yadav) or Mamu, one who is spineless. Apologies to Zandu Chawanprash)

Out of the Blue restaurant in Khar will hold an art exhibition-cum-sale from August 5 onwards called Tapori Art.
The restaurant’s gallery will have around 20 paintings ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 9,000 on various aspects of tapori life.So if you thought paan stains were ugly, they might soon be sophisticated enough to hang in your living room.

Restaurant owner Rahul Bajaj says the exhibition is an offshoot of a chameli and mawaali theme party held at Out of the Blue on July 21. “We had these tapori paintings on the wall and then decided to make a full fledged art sale.”

Artists Umesh and Yogesh Patil and Rohit Bhanushally of the L S Raheja School of Art have made the paintings. “It is a different expression of this side of Mumbai life,”says Umesh.

Yes the infamous Munna bhai’s gandhigiri has its charm working for the Indians in America too. In a protest against the last minute reversal in policy that would delay the permanent residency Indian green card seekers sent hundreds of flowers to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez in a three-day campaign that started on Tuesday

Inspired by the hit Hindi movie Lage Raho Munnabhai that extolled Gandhian ways of non-violent protest, the green card applicants sent around a thousand flower deliveries to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez in a three-day campaign that started on Tuesday.
On its part, the USCIS response was equally pacific. It plans to forward the flowers to Walter Reed Army Medical Centre and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, the main facilities treating US soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Gonzales in a statement on the agency website.

Read More here

Who says that Bollywood movies are all about signing songs and dancing in the rain..

Who can donate blood?• The age of the donor has to be between 18-60 years.
• A minimum weight of 45 Kg is required.
• The donor should have a minimum hemoglobin count of 12.5 gm/dl.
• The donor’s blood pressure needs to be within acceptable range of 110/70 mmHg to 180/100 mmHg.
• The donor should not be under medication or on treatment for diabetes, cardiac problems or any other medical ailment.
People who require blood
• Cancer patients, after chemotherapy, have very low blood platelet count, and require blood.
• Patients scheduled for surgery
• Emergency cases
Benefits of Blood Donation
• Donating blood may reduce the risk of heart disease for men and stimulate the generation of red blood cells.
• In patients prone to iron overload (e.g. due to hemochromatosis), blood donation prevents the accumulation of iron. However, at this time the American Red Cross does not accept people with hemochromatosis to donate blood for other people. On the other hand, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service does accept blood from hemochromatosis as they recognize that there is no disease to the blood.
• The amount of toxic chemicals (e.g. mercury, pesticides, fire retardants) circulating in the blood stream is reduced by the amount contained in given blood.
• Anecdotally, elderly people in good health have reported feeling invigorated by giving blood on a regular basis.

Would also like to thank the management of Sejos for allowing us to twist their arms to the max so that we bloggers could get the most viable deal out of them. And last but not the least, a BIG thank you to all those who turned up (and a boo-hoo to those who couldn’t make it)….I had one heck of a time and am sure our bash would put all those Bollywoodish…Page 3 parties to shame.

Without any further a due, here are some “Kodak Moments”……

Some pointers from last night’s event -

Mumbai Bloggers are freaking Time Guards.

Strangers became friends (and some friends behaved like total strangers – ya we had those kinds too).

Mumbai Boys are really gentlemen-like. And Mumbai women are hot.

Blog Party Thumb Rule – Never discuss blogs.

This man asked, “Are you known in the Blog circle? Never heard about you?” – Hell Ya, I am known….gosh what else do I need to do to spread my celebritiness.

And Finally……

Never have Long Island(s) on an empty stomach.

Link – Love : Bloggers/Non-Bloggers who made their presence felt…..

Melody, Piyush Jha, Aditya, Bombay Addict, Saurabh Nanda, Shiju Thomas, n, eM, Amit Varma, Sumit, Vivek, Kaushal Kharkanis, Kapil, Roshan, Kanishka, Avantika, Pensive Lawyer, Querida, Chronicus Skepticus, Akshay Mahajan, Gaurav, Davendra Gera, Piyush Bedi, Pankaj, The Calumnist, Ergo, Roshan, Rajan, Jigal, Arjun, Rishi, Lavanya & Deepak, Moksh, and Ravi.