Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Bharateeya Blog Mela – April 28, 2005

In probably a landmark for Selective Amnesia, my request for nomination to this weekly blog mela resulted in 20 comments, and about twice as many nominations, 10 need-explanation-mails, and some bickering. (It also resulted in about 120 spam comments, and half as many spam trackback pings, and went someway towards eating up my bandwidth. But who’s complaining) That folks, is a sure gage of the success of the Bharateeya Blog Mela.

Before we begin the business of the day, a few words about the mela. Quite a few new bloggers have written in, asking me what exactly the point of the mela is, and what will it achieve. This little introduction is for the benefit of both the new bloggers, as well as to guide me on how best to present the nominated posts.

The Bharateeya Blog Mela is a weekly snapshot of the Indian Blogosphere. It is a digest of the best Indian writing on the web. But it is not limited to that. The Blog Mela is a forum for new bloggers to showcase their talent, for established bloggers to reinvent themselves, and for hosts to discover that shot in the arm called an Instalanche. But by far, it is most useful as a kind of benchmark. A very flexible, yet consistent yardstick against which to measure your writing.

Alrighty then, to business. Let’s begin on a funny note.

Saurabh Nanda has just had a packet of chips, and feels his basic rights have been violated. He writes an open letter to Haldiram’s, damning their souls to eternal torture.

Priyanka Joseph needs to cut away and run. But being in Chennai, there are only two options – the Park, Chennai. Or the Park, Chennai. Quite naturally, she chooses the Park, Chennai. More specifically, the Leather Bar and it’s famed Mojito.

On to more serious matters. Take a deep breath now.

Neelakantan, not to be confused with Nilakantan, takes a look at the black money economy that regulation and quota raj created in India. He promises to continue the discussion. I am waiting.

Ashish, from his new home at Typepad, suggests using Us against Them as a means of spreading democracy.

Nilanjana seems to know quite a few authors. (Grrrr! Jealousy almost stopped me from including this post) Well anyway, she looks at some of Saul Bellow’s writing and comments, and thinks he probably deserved a little more newsprint.
In a related post, Avinash pays tribute to the mighty pen.

Sudhir Mishra thinks a picture, in this case a moving one, is worth a few hundred words. He reviews a few films but wants to get back to books. I for one agree.

Some visual relief – Zishaan posts a picture of Mumbai city life. I thought the picture was quite representative of the city’s psyche. You have a load to pull. You better do it yourself.

In a related post, Navin Harish talks of the twin problems Mumbai faces. That of decreasing green cover, and increasing brown – hutments and illegal settlements. load to pull. You better do it, cause no one will help you.

Shivam Vij heaps praises on Google, the company that does no evil, and says Google Print rocks.

Harini Calamur after a session of two “set in the future” films, thinks it’s about time governments and other authorities wake up and smell the coffee. Or in this case, the Carbon Monoxide of burning fuel. But Harini, there’s always hope. In fact, very promising, if one were to believe this report.

In a related post, Kiran gloats over the Reva G-Wiz and feels that the car(?) is perfect for European, and prolly Indian cities. I on other hand, will drive something that looks a lot more solid. And a little more car-ish.

Spare a thought, you right-wing screwballs, for the Indian Christian, says Daycruz, over at dippu.com. Meanwhile, Myguitarzz, again at dippu.com, wants to know what exactly or who, is the typical Indian.

Prepare for war. The Paper war. Harini Calamur, over at Media Musings, looks at the changing market dynamics for Indian newspapers in English.

Unantha, ever the writer, will help you find the bon-mot. In this post, he helps you spice up your resignation letter.

Surya gives you a neat checklist on how to manage change. A good read.

Karthikeyan is fed up with India’s stand in the region. In this post he fells its about time it stood its ground and acted the regional powerhouse it is.

Ramnath, the journo blogger with a superb camera, compares communists and free-market capitalists, but finally decides that Capitalism is the better choice. I’m proud of you my friend.

Hang on a mo. I might even turn a devout, religious, idol worshipping Brahman, and so would any of you. For Gopi thinks that Indian gods and goddesses are really, really hot.

Meanwhile, Anand of Locana, doesn’t quite seem to understand the great Indian Middle class.

Weblogs are, as we all have come to know, a great medium to share ideas, and write what one wants to. And this is one of the reasons why blogging is catching on faster than an epidemic. And as the host of the Blog Mela, I feel it is right for me to introduce you folks to some of the new blogs I have come across. I hope future hosts of the mela take this up in earnest, and bring in some new blood into Indian Blogosphere.

Drumrolls please, Welcome

• Avinash Subramaniam, of UghSport and Booklova
  
• Sandeep Rajan, of Write Cinema
  
• Arun Kedarinath, of Textosterone
  
• Venkatraghavan, of My Experiments with Ruth
  

That’s all folks.

The next mela will be hosted by Avinash

Call for Entries – BB Goodies

Here it is again.

The Bharateeya Blog Mela is back on Selective Amnesia. So nominate away. The final list of nominated entries will be put up on the 28 or the 29 of April 2005. Enjoy.

Here are some guidelines to follow.

• Any and all kind of posts. Personal, Professional, Sexual. Whatever. But please make sure it is well written, and offers a different perspective on things.


• Posts by Indians, or about India.


• Limit posts to the week ending 27th of April.


• A repeat request. Let’s be a little experimental shall we? Let’s nominate posts from blogs we haven’t heard or seen before yet! Let’s get some new people into this. Which means, the cartel stays away a bit.


• Finally, let’s have enough nomination. That ought to be the only rule. I am vain enough to think I am read by a lot of people. So all you people, nominate, and by the dozens.