Several people have reacted with incredulity to my blogging everyday. Reactions range from admiration to disbelief to some people thinking I’m not quite ok in the head.
Interestingly for me, the experience is still unfolding and I find new twists and turns on the way. In the past four months, blogging has become a habit nearly as ingrained as brushing my teeth before bed. However, proud as I am of not missing a day yet, I no longer panic about what would happen if I had no Internet or found myself in an emergency situation and skipped writing one day. In that sense, my confidence has grown. What started as a random challenge to myself, a bid to arm twist myself into achieving concrete goals, is now on its way to becoming a meaningful form of self expression that also engages others. It’s no longer about reaching the finishing line, but about finding the pulse, the subjects, the ideas within myself that drive me to write and my readers to react to my blog.
At the end of the first month of blogging, I promised myself to not get obsessed with site stats. At that point, I was worried my writing would get influenced by an analysis of readers preferences and ruin spontaneity. However, I find myself hugely motivated by site stats. Not in a negative way, though three or four consecutive days of poor numbers can worry me! I am fascinated to understand what people like to read about. Images attract people, local issues like governance and safety do too, but readers are totally turned on by unique experiences. My post on Parsi bakeries in Pune and a much older post about my relationship with Goa, my home state, have got the most reads and feedback on my blog so far!
I am heartened to find that places and geographies find such resonance and emotional connect with people across the world. I am reassured that professionals like me who work to better our cities, and specifically care about the relationship between the built environment and social fabric, are performing a vital service to humankind.
My blog has played a key role in achieving this reassurance. Blogging has therefore changed from purely a personal journey to a tool to improving my sensitivity as an urban professional and writer. I now dream of taking the next steps to involving concerned citizens and professionals together in meaningful debates on urbanism and identity, quality of life and the shared future of our cities through my blog and other media.