Once Upon A Time…!

During my aimless channel scans, my fingers stop pressing the remote control when I see Doordarshan. Though the programs of this channel is still the same and hasn’t changed a bit from 1980s, watching DD is like visiting a historical museum. Just like an art gallery that reminds our past, DD remains as India’s national channel.

Doordarshan has nothing to offer more than a few government promos and a few old recorded programs. However, this channel has a glorious past as India’s first national channel. In my childhood days, DD made our days. A few days back, when I spoke to my younger cousin about DD’s programs, she looked at me blankly. For new generation kids, Doordarshan is a channel for grandpas! For kids of 1980s and before Doordarshan is now a part of their nostalgia.

A few reminiscences about Doordarshan:

• Every program after school time should not be missed.
• Whenever you do something wrong, say ‘sorry shaktiman’!
• I used to wake up early in on Sunday morning to watch Rangoli
• I knew all the epics those days. Thanks to Sreekrishna, Om Namashivaya, Jai hanuman (Britannia Tin Tin Titin).
• Like a ritual, every Indian watched Republic and Independence Day parades.
• Even kids watched the President of India addressing the nation on the eve of Republic and Independence Day.
• Whether it is Hindi, Malayalam, English bulletin or even news for special people, everyone will listen carefully.
• Cricket matches, especially India vs. Pakistan, were like wars. We listened to both Hindi and English commentary patiently.
• Rhymes of ads were by heart (washing powder Nirma)…
• You’d to wait one week to watch the next episode of a serial.
• Watching the 4o’ clock evening movie on Sunday was like seeing the first show on the first day of movie release.
• Mile sur mera tumhara was listened and sang with so much of fervor

Now things have changed… Doordarshan never accepted the new trends. At present there are hundreds of channels available in our television. From international, national, state, regional to city channels, all these compete themselves to bring variety of programs. Yet we are not satisfied with a single channel and so we keep changing the channels every now and then.

Doordarshan was a synonym to the word entertainment previously. I should admit that the satisfaction that DD had provided in those days can never beat any media of today.

Watch DD at least once in a month. Else, we will be forced to tell a fable to our grand children, ‘Once upon a time there was a channel named Doordarshan’!!!

Namesake/Pointless

I have always wondered how do I get topics to write…! Usually, I don’t frame a post for the sake of updating my blog. However, I should admit that this post doesn’t have a specific topic to speak about. Again, I am a lazy book reader (but I do read blogs) and so my vocabulary is not too good. My dad used to scold me for not reading books! But what to do, I’ve many books in my shelf that are half read. Only a few books like Arundati Roy’s The God of Small Things amuse me. I’ve read that book completely with so much of passion.

Now coming to the point of posting… Please don’t curse me after reading this saying the whole thing I wrote was worthless. Subjects come at some point to my mind, this time it didn’t happen. I waited for a whole week. My routine of posting at least one post per week has to go on. That’s the main reason of scribbling this ‘namesake’ post.

Moreover, the number of people following me has really surprised and scared me! I never expected such a huge number in my list even in my dreams! Similarly, the tension of whether I can fulfill their reading needs has really worried me. You may say blog is to express whatever you feel. But always remember, it is the readers who can help you improve your writing skills. While writing a comment on others blog posts, I always try not to hurt them because sometimes a single rude comment can kill a writer. It doesn’t mean I don’t criticize bloggers. Rarely, I do attack some bloggers though not in a way that it is going to ruin their self confidence.

Unbelievable, the word count of namesake post has crossed 300 words. Life has to move on and my blog too!!! So, stopping this idiocy here… See you soon with some interesting posts. Thanks for your patience!

(So many don’ts and can’ts here… Believe me, I’m an optimist)

Walking Back To My Life

I am a human,

Not a stray dog!

I am a girl,

Not a mere doll!

Ashes of dreams

Wishes of future,

All lay shattered

For a phoenix rise!

I never lived for me

I never smiled back!

Blank and blind,

For a full season!

I’m walking back

In search of my life!

Somewhere I lost

My love for life!

World of words

Idols of ideas

Cracks of creativity

Waiting just for me!

Bright sunshine

Heavy shower

Lovely spring

Without shadows!

No more fetters

No more tears

Only a single life

To live the fullest!

Happy Birthday Equals 150th Post

I started blank

I knew nothing,

Slowly it grew

Step by step!!

Smiled and teased

Claps and stones

Courage with fear,

Lived and died too!

Three years voyage

Still rowing hard,

No looking back

Only pride, no regrets!

Three years back:

Sitting in a class beside the elephant hill at Ettimadai, I was really confused about blogging. Many of my classmates had a blog. The word blogging was a trendy topic of discussion during those days. Finally I too decided to start a blog. I asked my classmate Vidya about this. She was a new blogger that time and had no much idea on that. She said: “Just search ‘how to start a blog’ in Google”. Google re-directed me to BlogSpot.

BlogSpot asked me a blog title. A few names of my classmates’ blogs went through my mind. Suddenly, a name came to my mind: Voice of a Village Girl! Ok, let it be an option because even now I’m not sure whether my native is a real village. I tried for alternate names. Soon, I recognized this is the perfect name for my blog. With the picture of a few golden colored bangles as header image and a plain black template, I started my blog.

In the beginning, my intention of this blog was to publish my full news reports that I did as a part of academics. Usually, most of the news stories are edited by sub-editors before publishing it in our college journal, Campus Beats. Apart from removing unwanted words from the report, they are also forced to trim a few paragraphs in order to fit into the provided space while designing the news paper. I cannot blame them because I myself used to kill their stories mercilessly.

Today:

A real adventurous journey of three years from Roopa to roopz… Zero to 150 posts! I still cannot believe how I made it. There were ups and downs, appreciations and criticisms. Some were really harsh; while others were too sweet. Although I cannot claim that it is my life that I’d depicted here in this blog, I found a life in this world of blogging. I began this expedition without any expectation!

Earlier, I kept on nagging my friends to read, comment and follow my blog. I should thank them for not giving a blow on my face for irritating them. Following are those people who encouraged and supported me:

• Classmates, seniors, juniors and faculties of Amrita School of Communication
• My dear friends of Sreekrishna College
• My schoolmates of Peevees and Good Hope
• My colleagues and boss of Webnamaste
• My fellow blogger friends
• Facebook and Twitter friends
• Indiblogger, Blogger.com and WriteUp
• Microsoft Word (for providing me synonyms and correcting my sentence structure)
• My family, cousins and relatives

Even when I receive a few applauses for blog posts, the missing of Soni M Bhattathiripad is still a pain for me. I wrote a post about him in a hope that someone will give me positive news about him. Though the post created a sensation, that spirit did not long much. That missing still remains as an unsolved mystery. Hope Soni’s puzzle will be solved soon as the enquiry from the authorities is at a high speed today.

Writing 150 posts in 3 years and the role of SEO Executive taught me a few lessons:

1. Scribble whatever you wish (it is your blog)
2. Write every post as if it is your first blog post
3. Add maximum pictures to make the post colorful
4. Always consider the feedback of your readers
5. Never mix business in your personal blogs
   
6. Respond properly to the remarks of your readers
7. Read other blogs and do comment (not just a ‘nice post’)
8. Commenting on other sites can increase the traffic to your site
9. You can give positive or negative feedback
   
10. Criticize and point out the faults politely

Sorry for making you read such a long post! Three years or 150 posts is nothing in blogging. I still have a long way to go… Thank you world for accepting my blog and giving me a brand name- Village Girl!

Special Mention: Meenakshi, Anees, Vidya, Nimisha, Priya Sajith, Navin, Prajith, Priyanka Stephen, Vishnu, Renjith, Prajil Aman, Seethal, Vibin Das, Nisha Dilip, Jabir, Deepak Karthick, Leo, Vinod Bhattathiripad and Priya Mundekad

Dreamy Girl

Four walls

Wooden door

Window grills

Red blanket!

I’m a beggar

Call me a joker

Lonely survival

Longing for care!

A past of glory

A present of reality

A future of dream

A name for it is life!

Waiting all alone

For me to walk!

For days I dreamed

Let it come true!