Saturday, December 20, 2008

Lunch, anyone ? सावकाश जेवा ....ब्लॉगत ब्लॉगत जेवा .....


Once upon a time, not too long ago, there were 6 wordoholics. They wrote blogs. Their own, and then they commented on others' blogs.

They decided to meet.


Different types, ranging from a young working mother immersed in the mechanics and psychology of schooling 2 little girls, to a young man who balanced his job with a keen observation of what we call everyday life, (and a penchant for radio interviews :-) ; a gentleman who actually blogged as two, and excelled at expression in his native language, commuted 200 kms every weekend, and stayed back just to meet these unknown friends; a corporate type who wrote non-corporate blogs and limericks, and commentaries on happenings around him; and a housewife, retired from a job, waxing nostalagic on her blog, with fingers itching to dance across the keyboard, something that was a big part of her job earlier....


They had another wordoholic friend, a lady , who happened to have flown in from 12,000 miles away, and everyone decided to meet .

See the road that travels up the center of the photo with the green on one side, and buildings on the other ? Thats S. V. Rd,
an arterial road in the western suburbs. Well, they decided to meet in Andheri, a suburb of Mumbai, which would be somewhere at the top end of the road.






They decided to meet in the courtyard of a place called the Shoppers Stop shown here. Some came in early, browsed around the bookshops, and then waited. The ladies came by , in rickshas, each from far flung parts of Mumbai.




Of course , the rickshas stopped here and there, they looked around , since except for one person, who dares to appear as himself on his blog, no one had seen anyone else.

Maybe everyone had an invisble halo that screamed "blogspot", maybe everyone had a look of discovery on their face, maybe everyone was actually smarter than they thought, but THEY MET! (Except for one. A lady, who was braving the worst kind of traffic to make it in time, to see people she had never met. She was directed to come to the restaurant directly.... )

Unfortunately, the lady who flew down from the US of A, couldn't make it, and this effort is an attempt at making her feel as if she was there....




Just opposite Shoppers Stop, there is a nice place called RadhaKrishna. Besides being named after our deities, we had heard nice things about it, and we decided to go there for lunch.



This is how it might have looked without any bloggers inside. Just as we were getting seated, the final blogger in the ricksha, arrived and the youngest fellow in the group, in correct Indian style, went outside to meet her and escort her in.

See the table at the right bottom corner ? That's where we had lunch. The place was full.

Did everyone look like we thought they would ? Did we have a mental image about how a person would look after being a regular reader of his/her blog ?

It is strange, but for people like us from 3 different states, and at least 3 different languages, there wasn't any huge surprise element .

Everyone just sat down, and basically, got along like a house on fire ..:-)

Lots of chats, interspersed between delicious rotis and vegetable gravies, with a cooling yogurt raita, and a wonderful mixed vegetable pulao, and us oldies indulgently allowed the youngsters to tuck in the fruit salad with ice cream, as we discussed, vegan diets, kilograms lost and gained, and miles walked.

Some gifts were exchanged. Maybe ten years hence when blogspot gets upgraded to something you cant remember, and blogs have a 25 digit number which you say to the screen instead of typing it in , or something, we can all look back at the wonderful coffee mugs given to us by Kavi, with all the participating folks' blogsites printed on there.....


All good things at a Saturday lunch come to an end, and so did this meeting.

Here's a view of the road we had to cross, showing probably 1/100th of the traffic that was actually around. But this is to give you an idea of the variety. And no, we didn't jump over the road divider.


I have with me the coffee mug meant for the blogger at My2 cents. I hope we see her before she returns to the US.


And now, if you excuse me, I must go have a nice cup of ginger tea, in the wonderful bloggy mug......

19 comments:

  1. You arranged this, thanks a ton for this initiative.

    I have found three brilliant friends, Kavi was discovered earlier!

    Happy new year and Happy blogging!!
    Vivek

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  2. that mug is a great idea...

    and yes, its interesting meeting people you've met online and wondering how it would be...

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  3. I haven't been blogging but six months now, but I feel as though I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world and it is exciting. I did have lunch with one of my fellow bloggers from here in Washington. It was great fun and I hope to meet more as time goes by. Sounds as though you all had a marvelous time! Have to admit I'm a bit envious! Enjoy! and thanks for sharing.

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  4. I am sure this was so much fun for you all. I have always wanted to win the lottery and have lots of money to fly all my blogging friends to the U.S. to meet up with each other. I love blogging and have made so many wonderful friends that way.

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  5. I haven't yet met a fellow blogger but I would like to. This sounds like fun. The excitement of meeting new people without the awkwardness that usually accompanies it!

    Btw, I came here to tell you, you've been awarded. Please check my blog.

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  6. Looks like you guys had tons of fun. May be next time try to invite your regular loyal readers too..we wouldn't mind joining and sharing the fun..hee hee

    Vinita

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  7. The bloggy mug was a great idea.

    Does the ginger tea taste different now that flavours from six blogs swirl gently in it :)

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  8. VivekI am still trying to figure out what I "arranged" :-)

    You actually helped zero in on the venue, and came there before everyone since you were the only known parameter among us weird variables :-)

    I just sent some emails, and folks happily came......

    Happy new Year.

    Suma The mug IS wonderful. let us know when you fly down to Mumbai next, and we will have another lunch...and here's wishing you a happy new year.

    Sylvia Thanks so much for your comment. Looking forward to the time when we can both have lunch together :-) merry Chritsmas and a Happy new year to you.

    Judy I am waiting for a lottery too, (as I told June from Oz once), and have already started compiling a list of places and people I have to see. Doesnt hurt to dream, does it ? Have a great Christmas and a Happy new Year.

    Devaki We dont really celebrate Christmas as such here (as u know) , but it certainly feels like the festival, what with this great season of awards... Thank you for thinking about Gappa.....Happy New Year.

    Vinita Yes we certainly had a wonderful time.And you are most welcome . Happy new Year

    Anil P Yes. And on a Sunday morning, with all the newspapers to myself (without anyone separating the sections), I simply drown myself in the gently swirling tea flavours, from a steaming cup next to me ....(email Kavi if you need to know where to make such a mug. Tea extra. :-)

    ....Happy New Year..

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  9. that would be wonderful...

    and was wondering whether you would do this tag?

    also have been wanting to ask you this...what does 'kaimhanta' and 'gappa' mean?

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  10. Suma "kai mhanta" is marathi colloquial for "how are u/what do you say/so what's new" . "Gappa" simply means what is called "Gupshup" in Hindi, or sitting down for a chitchat.

    And before you ask, I should clarify that Ugich Konitari means "anyone, just like that" or "kabhi bhi, koi bhi" in Hindi :-)

    I will do the tag as soon as i get the camera back from the clutches of my daughter....

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  11. I really enjoyed this post. What fantastic fun it sounded. And a cup to make the occasion - you will never forget now. So true - wouldn't it be great to have everyone from around the world attend a blogging weekend somewhere. Fantastic idea and maybe it will just grow bigger and will be a regular thing for you.

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  12. you have narrated so well about our yeasdays's venture.

    I enjoyed every moment of it.

    आपण, विवेक, सुचित्रा. कवी ,सगळ्यांबरोबर ओळख झाल्याने , आपल्या सारखे हमसफर लाभल्यामुळे आयुष्य अधिक समॄध्ध झाले आहे.

    असाच लोभ रहावा

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  13. that's interesting...

    and i'm glad i asked :)

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  14. What a wonderful idea. I am a newbie at blogging. But it’s so exiting to get to know people I never would have met if I wouldn’t have come to that place.

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  15. Radhakrishna... hey i used to live there besides it in Rahul Apartment, when Shoppers Stop was Amber Oscar Theatre...

    You got me nostalgic...

    I remember the Onion Uthappa my favourite used to cost just 5 rs then.... i was a regular at this restaurant... its been years.... i guess i must go there...

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  16. Dear madam,

    the post about the meet on your blog and kavi's caught me by surprise. I'm happy for all of you that you had a great time. I'm also a little envious that you all had great time while I could not attend. I hope I get invited to the next meet.

    Ganesh

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  17. While i seem to have entirely appropriated the credit for the mug, i must submit that the mug was a joint idea that came about as a result of a casual brainstorming discussion that me and Mr. Patwardhan had ! We started out with a question of what can we have to ensure we keep a memory of the event in our minds...and there it was !


    I seem to like the mug more now. Now that the event is over, and i am already looking forward to the next one !

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  18. Your meeting sounds like so much fun. Although i read your blog, I missed this one and am glad to find it now. Meetings of a bunch of bloggers would be a lot of fun. When I was still in chat rooms, some of them would meet and arrange a destination. I never did it but it sounded like they always had a good time also.

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