It wasn't surprising to come across bloggers on the Technopark campus. But what came as a pleasant surprise was the variety and quality in these blogs. For Renu R. Nair, who works with Exalt Integral Solutions as technical writer, her blog vanajotsna.blogspot.in is a reflection of the person that she is. She posts stories, poems, travel pieces, and articles with a personal touch. “I used to keep a diary. It has now graduated to a blog. The difference is that, I've got a lot of friends through this medium and have met many of them. Right now I have 74 followers,” says Renu. What has come in handy is her flair for writing. For instance, a nostalgic poem on childhood is lyrically written in Malayalam.
Platform for talent
Blogosphere has expanded its horizons from being just a forum for a free exchange of opinions and ideas. It has become a platform to showcase talents and passions. Like that of Stephen Jawahar, an employee of M-Squared Software and Services. For him, his blog bluey.msjawahar.com, is ‘my life with travel and photography.' A travel freak who enjoys wandering on his own, Stephen updates his blog usually once in two days. He posts the photographs he has taken, along with written accounts of his travels. “I travel when I get a break, and take all kinds of photographs,” says Stephen. The photographs stand out for their quality. He chooses scenic spots, examples being Manjolai in Tirunelveli district, and Arukani and Pathukani in Kanyakumari district.
Time constraints are obviously there and so bloggers like Ranjith V.R. (ranjithraghunathan.com) of M-Squared and Suryajith K. (mookasakshy.blogspot.com) of Accentia Technologies are among those who've been forced to take a break from blogging. “Music, painting, photographs… I love it all and so you find posts on the topic. I also post technical stuff. I badly want to resume blogging,” says Ranjith. Suryajith, who often posts on current issues and even puts on the garb of a citizen journalist, too promises to go back to blogging at the earliest.
Blogging is more than a hobby for Sethunath U., a techie with IBS. A Kathakali artiste, he started blogging in Malayalam (“because I'm comfortable in the language”). “Blogging and Kathakali are stress busters. In fact, I'm enjoying life because I indulge in those. They take my life forward. Otherwise, I have a pretty hectic schedule in office,” says Sethu. He has a photography blog (nishkkalankachithrangal.blogspot.in) which he rarely updates these days.
And what makes nishkkalankan.blogspot.com stand out are the posts that tickle your funny bone. Sethunath has got such a fine sense of humour that the comments for some of his posts run into pages. “In fact, one post ( Neysevayum Brahmacharyavum ) was a huge hit and got circulated a lot in Technopark. Interestingly, somebody sent the same thing to me not knowing I'd posted it! I felt so happy, as if I had won an award,” Sethu says.
