Pune Amit Agarwal, touted as India’s first professional blogger, has also opened his own blogging school

Pune, April 3, 2011

Blogging takes a backseat in

tweeting times

Many people are switching to microblogging sites like Twitter and Facebook due to real-time response, reports Divya Mangwani

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logosphere is abuzz with a new question these days. With the advent of microblogging sites like Twitter and Facebook and specialised photo sharing sites, are serious blogs being relegated to the bottom of the online social scale? The Indian blog boom began in 2003-2004 and aspiring writers kept an online diary detailing their thought process and activities or writing about subjects they were interested in. But when the popular Desi Pundit decided to shut down first in 2006 then in 2010, it caused a mass outpouring of commiseration, followed by confusion from bloggers all over the country. They were asking themselves if it was a sign that blogging was about to become obsolete. It was the same with Indibloggies, the desi blog awards that rated exceptional blogs in terms of quality and readership. Founder Debashish Chakrabarty decided to shut it down last year but explained the decline in the number of blogs was the least of his worries. “There were so many blogs cropping up that it became difficult to monitor them,” he said. Chakrabarty, who wrote blogs in English as well as Hindi, has given up blogging in favour of Facebook and Twitter. He lists better feedback, real-time response and availability as his reasons. “For the average blogger, Twitter is the best thing that could have happened,” said blogger Sahil Khan, who organised the Pune Twestival last month in association with BlogAdda to raise

IndiBlogger, started by Renie Ravin, has a team of dedicated bloggers, which he said is the reason why the site is growing rapidly at about 500 bloggers a month

Vibhuti Bhandarkar, a freelance copywriter and a passionate blogger, is about to release her debut novel. She said blogging has increased her confidence in writing —Divya Mangwani DNA money for a worthy cause. The freelance designer personally believes that blogging has declined with the introduction of Twitter and the real-time element. But Vibhuti Bhandarkar, who has a personal, creative and fashion blog, disagrees as the social networking sites have helped increase traffic on her blogs. The freelance copywriter is a passionate blogger and is a member

of BlogAdda, Blogjunta, IndiBlogger, among others. IndiBlogger, started by Renie Ravin, has a team of dedicated bloggers behind him, which he said is the reason why the site is growing rapidly at about 500 bloggers a month. “IndiBlogger has helped play a major part in promoting blogging as we also organise meet-ups of bloggers in different cities.”

He also claimed that any blogger with hard work and good content can make money by blogging. For example, Amit Agarwal, touted as India’s first professional blogger, has also opened his own blogging school. His technology blog, Digital Inspiration, still has a huge following since its inception in 2004. Aggarwal may be one of the few that can make a livelihood

through blogging but most people think it’s not enough to sustain on be it in terms of their creative urges or professional careers. Chakrabarty jointly launched a Hindi magazine Nirantar with a group of regional bloggers while his friend Nitin Pai, a well-known national interest blogger, also started his own magazine Pragati as well as Takshashila Institution, an independent think tank. Other bloggers have become established authors like Amit Varma, Sonia Faleiro and Arnab Ray. Chakrabarty, who has rated and awarded these bloggers, said, “The online medium, especially blogging, has a limited reach. So writers also strive to receive recognition in other mediums.” Sahil is a published author, thanks to his blog. Vibhuti is about to release her debut novel and said, “It’s all due to the appreciation and feedback from my blog that I developed confidence in my writing.” With passionate and dedicated bloggers and community blog sites, the online presence of blogs will still be celebrated, irrespective of new microblogging sites.

Experience culinary heaven with Pune Gourmet Club What began as a group of friends in 2006 sharing a common passion for food, is now a thriving club with about 70 members, tells Ritu Goyal Harish

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ell-built and brawny, their presence at any event silently but strongly sends out a message, ‘don’t mess around here’. Bouncers, as they are better known, are paid to act tough and expel trouble-makers. But these toughies also have a humane side to them, if you take a closer look. Bouncers Sameer Khan and Azeem Khan are among the two oldest ‘bouncers’ in the city, having been around for over two decades. They are the first ones to be contacted during a celebrity visit or a high-profile event in the city. Every time a Bollywood celeb comes to town, you are most likely to spot Sameer and his boys managing the excited fans. Sameer, better known as Sam in this field, has mastered the art of keeping a watchful eye in a room full of revellers. “Yes, we are bad boys as many feel, but we are also humans,” said Sameer while marshalling a recently held rain dance in the city. A husband

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PGC MEMBERSHIP

This sort of culinary heaven is within reach if you choose to become a member of Pune’s premier gourmet club ideally christened ‘Pune Gourmet Club’ (PGC) by its founder, B Shankaranarayan. What began as a group of friends in 2006 who shared a common passion for food — not just in eating but also cooking, revamping recipes and certainly experimenting, is a thriving club with about 70 members (140 if you count the spouses). Shankar who is an entrepreneur and spent twenty years of his life working abroad was inspired to start the club owing to the lack of availability of International cuisine of good quality in the mid 90s. “I made Pune my home in 1994 and found the quality of food in Pune disappointing. We missed the taste of good life and started cooking seriously,” he added. By 2006 he had found fourteen

Don’t you mess around with these toughies The presence of well-built bouncers can send jitters to many, but they too have a humane side, reveals Joe Williams

ave you ever cooked spinach, potato with goat cheese pie or Coq Au Vin? — (French braise of chicken cooked with wine, lardons, mushrooms and optionally garlic, topped off with an apple tart and caramel parfait glazed with salted peanut caramel and milk chocolate mousse topped with paper thin chocolate plaque). Sounds like the work of a master chef ? Surprisingly, it’s not. Exotic as it may seem, this is actually cooked by people from all kinds of professions and backgrounds who share just one common interest — the joy of tasting, cooking and experimenting with culinary delights from across the world.

Membership fee: Rs100 per annum Refundable deposit: Rs1,000 For more information log on to: http://punegourmet.in To become a member email: [email protected]

Blogger Sahil Khan has turned into an author. His short story was published in the book Urban Shots

Apart from cooking, PGC members also keep on experimenting with Indian wines and started the popular concept of wine festivals in 2007 in Pune

PGC founder, B Shankaranarayan, gets into action like-minded friends with whom he started PGC. “We don’t follow any stringent membership criteria. You must have a passion for food and a will-

ingness to take on cooking and other tasks,” said Shankar. Initially PGC meets were hosted in homes of members. But as membership grew, it became a lo-

gistics nightmare to continue at home. Now, they approach restaurants to use the services of their dining and kitchen area. “Many times restaurants have even incorporated our dishes into their menu,” smiled Shankar. From cuisine of Brazil, Greece, Italy, South America and Southeast Asia, PGC members have also experimented extensively with Indian cuisine ranging from Chettinad to Banarasi. The group also experiments with Indian wines, starting the popular concept of wine festivals in 2007 in Pune. Sajjani Nair, a professional graphic designer from Pune, has been a member of PGC since 2007 and finds that apart from the idea of cooking unconventional fare, the fact that anyone can cook is more appealing. “Shankar gives us the recipe and we realise that we can cook as well as anyone else. Even those who don’t know how to cook want to try,” she said. This year, Shankar hopes to take the PGC to the national level.

and a father of two daughters, Sameer’s approach is always polite and gentle but he uses his muscle power when things get out of hand. They usher in the guests with a polite ‘May I Help You’ but trouble makers and gate crashers are ‘escorted’ away from the venue with an equally stern manner. “We have a job on hand and when we are on duty, there is no way we would even let our friends or family members in without valid entry passes,” said Sameer as he moved on to handle a couple of youngsters who were trying to enter the venue without any passes. Azeem, another bouncer who has rendered his services during the German Bakery bomb blast and helped the injured and the police, is proud of his duty. “Our job is to make sure that no untoward incidents take place. People only look at us as the tough guys, but that’s our job. We are certainly not the ‘bad guys’,” he said.

The team of professional bouncers working for Sharp Edge Security Services. Bouncers are required where crowd size or alcohol consumption may lead to arguments or fights