Regional bloggers

www.sampadakeeya.blogspot.in
Anonymous rebels

Sampadakeeya  in Kannada means ‘editorial’ and www.sampadakeeya.blogspot.in is doing just that - the job of an editor. Where it was a taboo to raise fingers on the media, Sampadkeeya has done a revolution. Started in the December of 2010 and administered anonymously, Sampadakeeya is very popular in the state, particularly in the media circle.  It has got huge hits, setting a record of sorts. “In fact this large viewer-ship itself shows the need for such a social media. This is the present journalistic trend here. Our main intent was to start retrospective thinking in the media houses about their moral and ethical standard. Our assessments and reportage of media houses were so accurate that no one could challenge their authenticity,” says an anonymous administrator of the blog. Ashwin Dasare, whofollows the site comments, “Sampadakeeya is a mirror of the current status of the media! I seriously had no interest in blogs before. But the sensation this has created is inexpressible. It is just a group of serious people who are seriously working for the betterment of society. The posts were just like an elder’s advice for me”.

www.readgujarati.com
A bid to save Gujarati

Most people, after their graduation,  go for a job. But Mrugesh, a technocrat from Vadodara was bitten by the language bug. He realised that the present generation was not interested in Gujarati literature and decided to do something about it. He just took an initiative and launched www.readgujarati.com. Now this website has transcended geographical boundaries with more than 80,000 Gujarati visitors worldwide. The 30,000 pages of reading material available on the site are filled with articles, poems, short stories, essays, novels and much more. People right from college students to working class  men send their pieces to the website which publishes them provided they meet the guidelines set by Mrugesh. Says Mrugesh: “It is not that Gujarati literature is not witnessing new creations. Every year, lots of books are published in Gujarati. Yet, only the elderly read it. I want to change this tendency and attract the young generation towards Gujarati literature and language. I want them to read the books. That is the sole purpose of readgujarati.com”.

Ittigecement.blogspot.in
A unique style

Prakash Hegde, a builder by profession always wrote for a hobby. However, he had his own unique way of writing. He would write in the form of short paragraphs which made his writing look like a poem. After he narrated one of his stories to his friend K Shivu, Shivu encouraged him to start a blog to write his stories and bring them to the notice of the world. Thus started his blog, Ittigecement.blogspot.in in2008. Very soon, his blog became enormously popular. His unique style was appreciated by many. So popular were they that his work was collated into two books, Hesare beda and Ide idara hesaru. Both were launched in the presence of few of the brightest stars in the Kannada literary circles. Hegde says, “I am not a literary person, am not even a well read person. I started reading bigwigs of Kannada literature recently. No one inspired me to write. I don’t know techniques of writing. But life teaches me well.” He has another blog, Chitra chaya which deals solely with photography. Though a busy professional, he devotes at least an hour and a half every day to his blogs.

www.albeliparwaz.blogspot.in
Bridging the gap

For voice-over artist, news presenter, radio jockey and documentary filmmaker Harpreet Singh Khalon, blogging happened by chance. “It was all of a sudden. First, I had done a review of Dhobi Ghaat for the blog of a friend of mine. The review was highly appreciated by his friends and they motivated me to start my own blog and thus it came into being,” he says. Dhobi Ghaat was also the first film that he reviewed for his blog, Albeli Parwez. Since then, many reviews, articles, comments, features, interviews have found place on this blog and have earned much popularity and appreciation. The only purpose of this blog, according to Khalon, is to provide a platform for constructive dialogue on cinema, especially Punjabi films. He feels that not enough work is being done on Punjabi cinema and hopes his blog bridges the gap to an extent.

“It would be a great thing if my blog gets more popular in coming days and thus helps in creating more understanding about Punjabi cinema, film life, new cinematic trends and above all, a refined perspective about reel and real life. After all, we not only write about a film, we also live a film,” says Khalon.

Masivakumar.blogspot.in
An eye-opener

“Ellorum Ellaamum Peravendum” (everyone should get everything) – boasts Ma Sivakumar’s blog. The leather technologist turned software entrepreneur was born in Nagerkoil in south Tamil Nadu. “In  2006 I started writing blogs. Before me, Badri Seshadri was writing blogs in  Tamil. After reading his blog, I also wanted to write. Now I write five blogs on various subjects from movies to personal finance to IT issues,” he says.

Shunning Facebook and Twitter, Sivakumar feels that the blog is a longer version of social media which needs quality research and this is here to stay. According to him, “In mainstream media, there is strict control over views expressed. But in social media, it is a free world.” Balabharathy, a popular blogger in Tamil who organised a Tamil-blogger’s meet in Chennai says about Sivakumar’s blogs: “Bringing Tamil into cyber world by finding suitable vocabulary and using it with suitable software are the areas where Sivakumar has contributed. His writings on open sourcing are really eye-opening.”

www.bihartimes.com
An astounding success

So successful has Ajay Kumar of Bihar been with his bihartimes.com that IIM Ahmedabad has recently done a study to see why and how it could run so successfully for twelve years especially in a state where the literacy rate is low and where the dearth of electricity is a common phenomenon. The site receives nearly 75 thousand hits everyday. After completing his research work at the World Bank, the founder editor of this social media, Ajay Kumar bought a computer in 1999. His tech-savvy wife encouraged him to experiment with it and soon the site was on. Some top writers and journalists of Bihar contributed articles for it.

“Net savvy readers are interested in some research based materials regarding the state. They want to know about its economy, education and daily news and happenings. They also want to satisfy their emotional urge to feel connected and we provide that,” says Ajay Kumar. Regarding the social media, Kumar says, “Mainstream media has its own role and will be successful in a country like India. But, the social media is making its own space of credibility. That is why this is gaining popularity.”