Find your tribe

My going to a bloggers meet was actually supposed to be an escape. Initially though but on second thoughts it was more of an attempt to have one to one with all the bloggers and i was curious to see and hear, those who are the top most in their ratings/ranks. Actually i get awed too quickly. i am saying that for myself because an honest comment from my side may give the impression of FLATTERY. But then again i don't really mind that.

Then close introspection of why i went led me to the conclusion that i was eager to find my tribe. Because i'm still clueless about that. i am a kind of potpourri of varied interests each so oppposite to the other that i,m beginning to feel a maverick of some sort. As of now my friends and acquaintances are also an interesting potpourri too. That for the simple reason that i see a little bit of myself in everybody. But it's hard when one genre comments something like-"Shivani how can you tolerate ****" or something like "God alone knows what you see in ****". All i do then is to just give a sheepish grin and blabber some stuff to which sometimes i get something like-"HOLY COW". Anyways i just chill and don't go overboard to prove why i'm seen with so and so. i don't really know if that means me being passive but it helps in directing conversations elsewhere and that way i'm saved of much dissection and all that postmortem which usually happens if you stretch a negative topic too long. Plus i land up feeling guilt free as neither have i participated nor allowed anyone of further sad analysis of so and so.

So was i successful in finding my tribe i'm not sure because instead of really talking to each other when the time was allotted to familiarise we got busy passing our URL's to each other. The only easy and happy moments i feel of the meet was when each one of us introduced ourselves on the cordless mike and some of the introductions though said honestly were very funny which made the convention hall reverberate with applause and laughter. Truthful words are often funny if only we care. And this reminds me now of that film "About a Boy" starring Hugh Grant which has truth from his side all the time and extremely hilarious to make one roll of the sofa with intense laughter. No! i'm not talking about the introductions being so funny here but about true mundane things being very funny. Some introductions were simply SO CUTE like this gentleman who said "Hi friends i am a blogger and have no originality". Of course there has to be some introductions which sounded like banging one's own drum but that was also fine. i honestly had no idea how i sounded until this charming lady much younger to me walks up anD says "hi i'm **** and i really loved your introduction.....". Needless to say how good i felt then and it kind of gave a phillip to doing away with my earlier inhibitions.

Another lovely moment was towards the fag end of the meet when we broke for high tea. It was here between sandwiches,cutlets,CHIPS,rasmalai,icecream and good tea/coffee that we mingled better and shared some one to one conversations. Of course earlier during the URL signing session i had met my blogdost who goes by the moniker Websnacker but it was between happy munching that we talked on friendlier terms. Quite an impressive blogger and more impressive in the questions and answers round. A beautiful charming writer however was also a winner when she mentioned about the value of blogging how it means "POWER TO THE AAM AADMI". That after giving due credits to Mr Laxman for first coining and bringing to fore the term AAM AADMI(The common man)

The fag end session would've gone trackless of time had my husband not joined the melee asking me why i was not answering my phone. He had come to pick me up from the venue to save me from the rascals of Chennai-the autowaalahs. His arrival sort of made me feel hurried and after quick introductions i would've exited the venue without the return gift had my blogdosts there not reminded me to collect it. In such a short span of time this gesture from their side made me feel very optimistic and looking forward for more.Yeah we all got a hep black tee with the Indiblogger logo and slogan in the front and UniveraCell logo on one sleeve whereas the other had the Indiblogger. UniverCell i believe had sponsored the event in Chennai the second one so far as history goes.

It will be criminal on my part if i fail to applaud the brilliant efforts of the Indiblogger Team for hosting this event with all bon homie. Some who were just names earlier in my mail box were right in front of me all smiling and eager to help me with all my doubts. i hastily accumulated all their visiting cards just in case i need some help later so far as applications are concerned. Sad but applications freak me out and my last attempt to make my page attractive resulted in a malware alert to my visitors. So unceremoniously those attempts had to be done away with.

Smiling and gentle in his manners Mr Anwin J from Indiblogger left his coffee unfinished to help me with my queries. Actually i would've been a real pest to him so in a way my husband's arrival saved him of much agony.

So far so good. Escape or no escape, found my tribe or not, the event saw me all fresh and raring to go. i needn't be afraid of my simple unimpressive writing. So what i can't match up to the levels of the 80+ or 90+ i have something to say and now i'm more sure that i will catch on with my tribe who will hear me out.Yipeee!