Since I Pinned Down Myself To Pen Down My Thoughts

I have been good at writing since my childhood. Before someone quickly disagrees with it, it’s not poems, essays, and articles, I was good at writing programs. My interest in WRITING code, not just changed my life, it made the most of what I am today. It made me that popular geeky guy in school and college who fixes computers. It helped me to land a good job, so far lucky not going through the pain of being jobless. Oh, wait, shouldn’t this be about the ACTUAL writing?. Just want to establish my geeky background, as they say, logic contradicts creativity. I am here contradicting the both.

“Beauty without expression tires”

If you are wondering why this coding guy started blogging and all, I might call it self-realization. Did I realize that I have an incredible writing talent? No, I realized social network is not a right place for me to put in my thoughts. I realized that sharing to me is spamming for others. I realized many are interested in trolling than giving constructive feedback. That’s why I began to pen down my thoughts in a blog. Now if you think I am a thoughtful person or an expert trying to voice out my opinion, no you are wrong. I was that guy who was trying to vent out his feelings post-breakup and trying to do something that occupies his mind. Just like running, writing which started as an escape route turned out to be a favorite route now. I wouldn’t say it became my passion and all, but it gives me an inexpressible sense of satisfaction. I am such a selfish cos I mostly write for myself than others, and that’s why each and every comment or feedback excites me as I seldom expect them.

I know that’s a bit of a boring prelude, Let me try answering this question “How my life changed since I started writing/blogging?” straight.

“Writing might not have changed my life much, but it certainly helped me to express myself better.”

I made a million dollar out of writing, and millions of fans follow me around the world, just kidding. We both know that isn’t the way how writing has impacted my life. How about I start with the unquantifiable things. First of all, I got some awesome friends via this platform. Especially, The Chennai Bloggers Club (CBC) friends. Super talented people from diverse backgrounds who keep on motivating me to write more and better. Their support for my writing is beyond measure, Thanks a lot, guys. Then, my language and style have evolved since I started blogging. Though I have played my part, I should also thank these context based grammar checkers. Just a few encouraging words like “your post made me laugh” or “It motivated me” or “I could relate to myself” or “you write rubbish” would surely put me in the seventh heaven. Believe me; it takes quite a time to land back on the ground. As I mentioned earlier, the sense of satisfaction that blogging gives me is immense.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”

Now to something that quantifies. Blogging helped me to make a huge leap forward in my career. From being a Software Developer, I moved departments to become a Digital Marketer. All credits to my blog, it helped me more than my MBA degree to secure that place. Now, blogging is an essential part of my job and writing for my company’s blog is one thing I enjoy the most at my work.

Writing might not have changed my life much, but it certainly helped me to express myself better.

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club contest in association with Sweek.

The One Who Ignored

Incident 1:
It was a usual Monday at work and definitely not an exciting day. I usually have lunch with a group of friends and this day is no different and usual conversations continued.

Me: I went to this Wild Tribe Ranch in ECR last Friday eve and it was awesome.
Friend: What’s that?
Me: It’s an adventure park, you must try it.
Friend: How much did it cost you?
Me: I didn’t pay, they had their pre-inaugural event that day and I was invited.
Friend: How come they invited you?
Me: I am part of this Chennai Bloggers Club, and such establishments collaborate with them for brand promotion.
Friend: Is there a shortage of bloggers in Chennai?
Me: No, There are plenty. (Innocently)

It might have taken me some time to understand his mockery. But, at the same time I was wondering how many posts of mine he might have read, probably none.

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Incident 2:
My office was sponsoring its employees to run in Chennai Marathon.

Friend1: Last time you were volunteering na so, this time, you better sign up at least for a 10Km run.
Me: I think I’ll give it a try.
Colleague: You!! Run? You look like a potato, and you would probably end up rolling all the way instead of running. (Laughing heavily)

This was probably because I was this fat, stout looking guy back then and he, a slim one. But now, I am pretty much the same fat, stout looking guy who can run and cycle a little longer than before.

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All my life I had people around me who would look down upon me. Maybe it’s my looks or my attitude or their natural tendency or whatever, I am still clueless about it. At times, it’s from people close to me making it difficult for me to act indifferent. My greatest struggle is bypassing all those negativity that makes me feel inferior. Since my childhood, I had so many people around me telling me why I won’t and can’t do certain things. I know it’s the same case in most of our lives.

The only way for me to overcome struggle is to simply ignore them, if not the person, at least, their words. Nowadays, my weapon against them is my smile, my “good, thank you, now go and mind your own business” smile. They say “Ignorance is bliss”, but in my case “Ignoring is bliss”. Being optimistic has made a significant change in my life. I learnt to put these silly things behind me and concentrate on the things I like to do. I learnt to get inspired and motivated from even the tiniest of things. Be it a second faster than my previous run or a bot following my blog, those tiny things are motivating enough for me to cruise ahead. I have also developed a kind of aggressiveness within, not the fierce one like a shark, but like a duck. Yes, duck it is. I know it’s not a pretty animal to compare oneself with. A duck might look calm outside, gliding across the water, but, beneath the water, it relentlessly paddles its feet. That’s the kind of aggressiveness I am talking about.

I feel happy when someone comes up to me and tells me that they have started running or blogging inspired by me or something I had said. It feels like an achievement. Nothing adds more positivity than surrounding yourself with positive people. Thankfully, there is another kind of people in my life too, the ones who stand by me, help me through my tough times and support me. I am grateful to all those wonderful souls in my life.

My smiles keep the negativity miles away. I just want to be this happy soul.

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 This entry is part of ‘I Struggled but Overcame’ contest organized by Chennai Bloggers Club(CBC).

And here is the link to the trailer of the book which contains our very own impressions of the CHENNAI FLOODS titled ” AFTER THE FLOODS“

Loveu Letter

Dear Love,

Hope you are fine?. Probably, I shouldn’t be asking you this question today. It’s valentine’s day and the whole world is celebrating you. You are the one of the best things that came across my life, wish you stayed bit longer. I can’t blame you either, both villains EGO and religion played their part in temporarily flushing you out of my life. You know what, it’s been years, but I still miss those beautiful moments being with you. You are awesome and magical, aren’t u?. You pushed beyond my comfort zones and made me do crazy things. I enjoyed it all until you left me one fine day, alone and dry. It was hard and disastrous for me. Somehow I moved on, filled my life with things that would fill your absence. But, there is this small void which I couldn’t avoid. The wounds are healed, but the scar remains and reminds you. All I now wish is for someone who could bring you back to me. This time, I am gonna hold you tight and gentle. I have learnt how fragile you are, so will handle you with care. Hope you don’t keep me waiting too long.

Many are happy today because of you, please stay with them forever. Many more are still hoping for you, you are their last hope. Reach them soon and keep them happy too. I can imagine the world with no air and no water, but not without you. Be there for us always.

Love You Love.

Yours Lovingly
Gokoulane Ravi

This is a post written for a Valentine’s Day – Write a love letter campaign organized by The Chennai Bloggers Club.

Visit http://www.chennaibloggers.in for more details.

One Aspect I Want To Change In Chennai – The CBC Tablog 2

This post is the part of Chennai Bloggers Club’ super initiative “CBC Tablog-2”. The exercise is where few bloggers write about a common subject and tag each other posts as a chain-blog. The subject for this Blog Tag is ONE ASPECT I WANT TO CHANGE IN CHENNAI. The tag was passed to me by Muthiah Sriram who blogs at Life As It Comes, you can read what he like to change in this post. A special mention to Kaushik Govindaswamy who designed the below logo exclusively for the Tablog. And special cheers for all those 30 bloggers (including me) who took part in this.

There are many things I wish to change, But it’s all about that One part of chennai. The part of chennai I grew up. Though I no longer reside there, It’s the part of chennai my heart still belongs to, It’s The North Chennai.

I Wish is to change the mindset of most of the chennaites, who think that chennai doesn’t exists beyond Beach Station in north. Like most in the westeros who doesn’t know what lies beyond the wall (you can ignore this Game of Thrones stuff). It’s the places like Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Tiruvottiyur which were prominent areas of madras in north when it was formed. Have no idea why they lost their importance with time. The much spoken about places in Chennai like T.Nagar, Anna Nagar, Velacherry, Tambaram, etc. were added much later.

I wish i could change the intention of politicians to keep north Chennai under developed and just use it for their vote bank. When suburbs and newly developed area grow predominantly in terms of facilities and infrastructure, I wonder why north Chennai is pretty much same for all these years. Though It’s one of the densest parts of Chennai in terms of population, It heavily lacks basic amenities like health, sanitation, education, public transport, road, etc. I wish government spend more on developing these areas. I even felt miserable when Chennai Metro Train project didn’t extend till north Chennai as it was initially planned to, I wish I could change that too.

I wish I could change the way how movies and other media portrait north Chennai, come on guys all there are not rowdys, goons and people with bad mouth. Might be a very few be like whats been portrayed in movies, but most of the people here are normal ones like you and me. Whenever I read news papers, mainly the english ones, I try to find is there any news about these areas in their metropolitan section, mostly I end up with nothing. Is that they only write about the places where their circulation is more or they just simply ignore?

North Chennai Trivias

• Royapuram railway station is south India’s 1st railway station which was inaugurated in 1856
• World famous Royal Enfield bullets are only manufactured in Thiruvottiyur.
• Chennai Port is the 2nd largest port in india next to Mumbai.
• Ennore Port is one of the emerging ports in India which won “memorandum of excellence certificate” award from Govt of India for 2 consecutive years.
• Kasimedu fishing harbour has been identified as one of the 6 major fishing harbors in India in terms of volume and one of the major hub for seafood export industry. It also acts as a research centre for Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.
• Thyagaraja Swamy & Vadivudai Amman Temple at Tiruvottiyur is one of the oldest temple complex in Chennai, which is said to be exist since 7th Century.

Let the peace and harmony prevails, Let all live a happy and healthy life.
I Love you Chennai ❤ ❤ ❤

I pass this on to Sushmita who is an ardent Nature admirer and a great fan of great wall of India Mr Rahul Dravid. She blogs at A Blog of Scenic Nature – Beautiful Creations of God and A Tribute to Mr.Dependable Of the Indian Cricket – Rahul Dravid. Coincidentally we both are from same area and got graduated from same college.