Fun at Blogjunta’s Bragbin

That’s what I had writing my first of three posts for the “Blogjunta Bragbin”

It is reproduced below and is also online for you to read.

Keep the faith!

I Brag: I blow my virtual trumpet

(This post was written for Blogjunta’s Bragbin)

Never usually lost for words, this first article in a series of three has really put me in a bit of a dilemma about “bragging” about myself. I lost sleep over it (yes, I did!) and suddenly, the day before yesterday morning, as I was riding back home after dropping my son off at school, I had this brilliant idea!

Why look at it as a challenge? Why not ask my friends and co-workers to each write a few words about me? Yay! That’s it! So – I quickly explained what I wanted in an email and happily waited. And waited. And waited. What the heck!  Should I post my brief resume here?  Should I continue to wait for responses? But I have a deadline! So:

Let me begin by blowing my own trumpet now.

Hello Folks!! I am Vidya Sury. 

Mom to a teenager/Freelance Writer/Blogger/Ethics Committee member.
(If you’re interested in knowing how I got into my current career as a freelance writer – here’s the link to a Chai Chat with Jaya Narayan.)

I am passionate about everything I do. I love to read, I enjoy music, movies, and exploring how stuff works. For me, everything is possible. Money is not my main motivation. Love photography. I am fascinated by the Internet – endless exploration. Fond of children.

Optimist. (I wear pink colored glasses to prove it. No, really!) Big fan of D-I-Y stuff. I believe that we all learn something new every single day.

I love the variety my “paid to write” work brings. I’ve had the opportunity to write articles, e-books, blog posts, reports, email series, press releases, and website content on just about any topic. It brings in very decent money and the guys I work with are absolute gems. Asheesh is also a close friend now.

I am an expert ezinearticles.com writer where I write under the not-so-original name Vidz Sury. No commute, no dress code – ah, freelance is the way to go!

I started blogging in 2003. Over the years, I’ve tried to become more focused – thanks to my freelance writing work and blogger friends.

Here are my blogs (And I’d love to know what you think)

• Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles = where I share experiences, humor, fun stuff, inspiring stories, philosophy, general health tips.
• Coffee With Mi = a tribute to my mom who passed away in Feb 2010. Oh yes, I miss her.
• Your Medical Guide = health blog; guide to physical, mental, and emotional health – I recently got the “top health blogger” badge from wellsphere.com. (Brag, brag)

I also write

• A health series at GingerChai every Tuesday and Saturday
• Website SEO Content = search engine optimization related
• Vidya Sury’s Mental Health Break = my WordPress health blog
• It’s a blog’s life = a guide for bloggers in the form of interesting tips and articles
• Clinicom = ethics committee blog
• A Caregiver’s Notes = as a condition blogger on everydayhealth.com

Right – so besides being a freelance writer and an active blogger (for fun and for money), I am also a member of the CLINICOM ethics committee, which evaluates protocols for clinical trials since 2005, a truly enriching experience.

Along the way – I’ve become somewhat popular in the good ole blogosphere and have immensely enjoyed judging contests at GingerChai and BlogAdda. I also had the pleasure of winning a couple of them recently. One was about My Oldest Book and the other, is Sharing Diwali Moments

To break the monotonous text, here’s a pic – we visited Agra in the last week of Dec 2010 and the Taj took our breath away:

Now – this post would have ended here – but I just have to share what my friends finally did write in.

I am sharing the un-edited proxy-bragging notes: (they are all the no-mincing-words and speak-your-mind types).

Ravi, my best friend:

“Vidya -intelligent articulate and she thinks.out of the box. A non confirmist with a wacky sense of.humor. A good and trustworthy friend with whom carrying on the friendship is absolutely delightful and without any pressures! And she writes with her heart!” 

Almost sounds like I made the keyboard and other writing instruments redundant, eh?

Then Vijay popped up online, acted smart about “writing” and said – ok – here goes

“responsive, cleaning freak, compulsive Coffee disorder, child friendly, thought freak, non-judgemental, experimentative…will that do?”

Right. Needless to say, I told him to leave it.

Then, I got an email from Lakshmi Rajan of GingerChai. Incidentally, I went for months as an author of Ginger Chai without really being sure whether LR was male or female. Here’s what he said:

Vidya, is the secret behind the healthy state of byte of our GingerChai brew crew, Her healthy concoctions (read: health posts) makes the perfect cup of GingerChai for body and soul of our readers. True to her name Vidya , she is depository of knowledge of various domains and also with the God bestowed gift of passing on the knowledge through her writing skills. Going through her multiple blogs and her articles in various websites, we can conclude she is a wonferful, caring, friendly human being – one can be happy, lucky and proud to know and be known” Ok … this is a spontaneous braging about you ;)”

Now – why did he wink at the end? Sigh.

Ok…next up is Hetal of Spire PR. We’ve known each other for years now professionally and have gradually become friendly. Here’s what she said:

“Vidya according to me is: who believes in perfection. Being a  female has the qualities of multitasking and being patient. And by being a working mother I think u have mastered the art of multitasking and juggling. one who wants to try each new thing life has to offer, love to explore new places, people and cultures. u like to dressup and look presentable always.”

Asheesh went a little overboard, saying:

“Vidya is my best writer and savior for any project. Whenever I get stuck with any project and all writers have expressed their inability to handle that topic, Vidya will say, yes I can. The comfort of having someone like her is priceless. She is a subject matter expert for almost all subjects which is kind of unthinkable with other writers. She is able to do this because of one very basic trait that she loves writing. Writing comes effortlessly and naturally to her and this makes her what she is – a prolific writer.”

Now I know why I get those tough projects!

I love what Mr Raghavan Chairman of Clinicom wrote:

“I have known Vidya Sury for over 10 years. She is an intelligent & caring person. In all these years of association, I have always found her to be proactive and committed to the tasks assigned. She is pleasant, friendly & easily gets along with people. Her memory is remarkable & she is able to recall numbers, subjects etc.”  

Enough, eh? Oho. So – proxy bragging – Friends with benefits? Oh yes. 🙂 Thank you, folks!

One final brag from a proud Mommy: my son’s painting is featured in the IISc 2011 calendar in the month of November 2011

Thanks, Blogjunta –”BRAGBIN” is a great initiative. Looks like mine’s overflowing.

Thanks, readers, for staying with me. I am definitely going to enjoy writing tomorrow’s post about

Gratitude – the people we connect with, make us.

Stay tuned!