Monday, July 31, 2017

Ten Years of the Blog


Ten years ago, I started this blog by putting up the first two posts in the last week of July, 2007. The idea of beginning a blog had taken hold sometime in January in 2007. It took me six months to overcome the hesitation, nerves and also a bit of laziness to finally begin the blog. Since I had decided to start the blog no matter what I hadn’t really thought about what the blog was going to be about. I had a vague idea that I would write about books, a bit of work and a lot about Hyderabad, and whatever that would result whenever I travelled. In the rush to begin the blog it did not occur to me that I should begin with a good post and ended up posting something about the Bata stores not stocking shoe horn and about Bonalu in the very first posts! As the months and years rolled by I realized writing about the books I found at Abids is the safest thing to do along with occasional posts on other issues. Regular readers of the blog would notice that in the past couple of months I have been posting only about The Sunday Haul. It is because I am not finding the time to write about anything else though there is a lot I have to write about. I actually think one can have a blog writing exclusively about the potholes on the roads in Hyderabad.

As the countdown to the completion of ten years of the blog began sometime in May this year or so I thought I’d be overwhelmed when the end of July came around. Now, however I am not experiencing any overwhelming feeling except for a vague sort of question that is buzzing around in my mind about how I could manage to persevere with it week after week. There aren’t many people following my blog and despite this I kept on with the blog posting every Friday with unfailing regularity. I still feel that I am not writing the blog for the sake of the followers but for myself, to get something off my mind. But I am glad there are people following my blog, occasionally leaving comments and I do think of them when I do not feel like writing the Friday’s post. Anyway, I’ve just realized why I have managed to keep the blog alive for a decade.

The only reason why I have been able to sustain the blog for so long is my passion for books. There is no other reason. It helped that my passion was so strong that I wanted to share it with others. I like to think that I have been modestly successful in revealing my love for books and reading in the blog. It has been a long journey but it has been rewarding. I have made a few friends along the way, wonderful people I meet regularly. The only thing I can say is that as long as the passion burns in my heart the blog will continue. The good news is that the passion seems to be growing stronger the older I become.

Thanks, everyone and especially the forty six people following my blog.

5 comments:

Jayasrinivasa Rao said...

Congratulations, Vinod ... keep going ... I check every Friday evening, maan, for your latest post ... it is your blog that inspired me ... but I miss your unique banjara hills posts ...

Vinod Ekbote said...

Jai, thanks a lot. One of the happy side-effect of blogging has been making friends like you.
A Jubilee Hills post is in the offing. Keep reading.

Harimohan said...

Congratulations Vinod bhai! You were the one who started me off on my blogging journey and it has immensely helped me in so many ways that I cannot list - but enough to say that a book has come out of it and I am surely a better person for it. I have also been able to push a couple of writers to blogging after seeing the benefits of blogging and they are happily writing away.
Ten years is a long long time and a wonderful commitment to keep. It's precious stuff on your and I enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy reading Raja's blog. Frankly those are the two blogs I read normally.
The stuff about books you write is phenomenal. I sometimes wish I had more time to read some of the books you write about. Hopefully will. Keep blogging, keep sharing and keep inspiring.

Clamourous said...

Hello! My husband and I love your blog. I just made a reference about it in my blog too. Hope it is okay. My husband has actually met you in person and you gifted him- On Writing by Stephen King. Please continue writing coz we love it. Here is a link to my blog where I linked yours- https://clamourous.blogspot.in/2017/09/what-i-know-i-will-miss-about-hyderabad.html?m=1

Vinod Ekbote said...

Thank you very much, madam (S). I was wondering where he had disappeared.
I wish I had met you both before you left Hyderabad. I hope you come back again soon.
Btw, that's a nice blog you have going.
Thanks once again.