I am grateful

(I have reproduced the post below, if you are inclined to read it here :-))

Instead of letting a picture speak a thousand words, I used a thousand words to create one of Gratitude.

While writing the article, I came across some lovely gratitude / thank you quotes I felt like sharing:

• The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~ John E. Southard

• Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Mark Twain

And to you all, I want to say this:

I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom.
~ Author Unknown 

My deep-felt thanks to everyone who has touched my life.

Gratitude: Thanks, Shukriya, Gracias, Merci!
(This post is written for Blogjunta’s Bragbin – Day 2)

This post is to say Thanks

But that’s just not enough

Words are hardly adequate

Blah and then more stuff

Folks, I have warm feelings

About your generous act

And I am here to appreciate it

You’re all special – and that’s a fact!

All of you have been absolutely great;

If I don’t spell it out, I’d be an ingrate!

Ok…on to the actual appreciation now!


Three blogs/bloggers that continue to inspire me the most.

Only three? Sigh. At the very minimum, I have at least ten that inspire me continuously. So I cleverly decided to choose three, which, in turn, had several bloggers. Words cannot express how grateful I am to those I have connected with through these. I eagerly wait for updates – and have a specific time in my schedule to read them. The first two are blogazines and the third is a fantastic resource for freelance writers – all are superbly written. Check the links out for yourself and you’ll know what I mean.

1. Workflow Writing = The Information Writers Need, Where They Can Find It™ – Fiction, Journalism, Blogging, Freelancing, and other Writing articles, news, and resources from 345 writers and 77 publications. What more could I ask for?
2. The Daily Brainstorm = this blogazine certainly rocks my mind
3. Freelance Folder = freelance tools, advice and resources

Three blogger friends I would like to see featured in this section

This is easy, although I do wish I could add to the list! My favorites are Mika, Mansi and Tulika

I am completely impressed with their blogs – I know Anamika (Mika to her friends) personally and have had the pleasure of interacting with her. A wonderful person – and a brilliant one. She writes beautifully and I eagerly look forward to reading her updates. Mika is a multi-talented and multi-faceted woman. She’s a budding book author. She’s a highly focused person with the fantastic ability to speak what she thinks and make 100% sense. She’s going to be famous, I know it. She blogs at The Twins & I and I love it. Read about Mika.

Mansi Bhatia has a great blog over at First Impressions – Thoughts, observations, questions and while I may not know her personally, I’ve been a regular lurker of her blog and have learned lots there about focus. I await her newsletter with anticipation and head over right away to read. Read her “About Me”  Great stuff there.

Tulika has a lovely blog at obsessivemom – bringing up twins and this one’s a real treat to read. Tulika’s a journalist-turned-mommy-to-two and is obviously enjoying the switch. I love her easy style of writing.

What can I say? The hand that rocks the cradle, truly rules the world. Women power! I could keep bragging about them – but I’ll let you judge for yourself. Each of these women is an achiever in my eyes (most women are, aren’t they?!)

Next…

My gratitude to three people who helped me become the blogger I am today

Blogging is something I’ve done since 2003 – and before that – now, hold your breath – I actually used pen and notebook (of the bound variety – yes, I have a major fetish for stationery) to write a diary and write down random thoughts.

Family

I’d start with family. First, I would express gratitude to my Mom, Devi, who always encouraged me to write and appreciated it. As a child, I’d  write about excursions, holiday trips, situations, people I observed, school events. This played a big role in my winning essay competitions through college. In fact, Mom was also quite the writer – she loved to write regularly in a diary and she came up with things like:

“Diary writing is far more than a way of exorcising one’s unhappiness. The effect is extraordinary. Distanced on paper, troubles shrink to their true size. You can regard them objectively and see how temporary they are….Devi” My Mom, she had attitude!

“When spoken words failed, written words kept us close” (about letters we wrote each other)

I must thank my uncle, Gopal, who nurtured my reading habit – I say this because without a command of the language and a large vocabulary, expression may have been more difficult. Mostly I thank him with all my heart for introducing me to P G Wodehouse and all the wonderful authors I’ve enjoyed ever since. They are my pillars. I owe my uncle my childhood. My Mom and uncle also tirelessly narrated stories to me ever since I was a child. God bless them. My uncle continues to inspire me whenever he visits us.

It was only natural for me to dream of being a writer and, since I was quite vocal about that, I’d be nominated to do any writing that was involved including friends’ assignments(!), drama dialogs, in house newsletters at work and so on. That I thoroughly enjoyed a career in advertising /sales /marketing /training is a different story.

Special thanks to Vidur, my son, and super-witty Sury – who are always so loving and continue to motivate and inspire me on a daily basis. I often take inspiration from watching Vidur write his blog with such single-minded purpose.

Friends

I must especially thank all my friends for consistently thinking that I am a wonderful writer, even if I didn’t think so sometimes. I know how it feels to have loved ones who believe in me and have faith in me. Thanks, my dearest friends. Too many to name. But they know how I feel about them. Hugs.

Creative Lipi

I’ve written a lot of poetry, short stories, and of course, like everyone I know, I plan to write that book and I know I will, too.  But in the meantime, my ability to write became a breadwinner in 2005, thanks to Asheesh of Creative Lipi, who presented writing as a career opportunity. And I realized the real meaning of “If you enjoy what you do – you don’t have to work a single day”  Thank YOU, for your faith in me, Asheesh.

Special thanks to Lakshmi Rajan for letting me write a health series on Gingerchai. It means a lot to me.

How can I not mention the BlogAdda team, who kept tabs on my blogs and chose posts for their tangy Tuesday and spicy Saturday picks? And ran contests and kept encouraging all the bloggers? Thanks, BlogAdda.

Thanks to all the “followers” on my blogs, the subscribers, the visitors, the lurkers, and the wonderful people who take time out to email me to discuss a post.

Now, if I’ve left out anyone, blame it on my current cold-flu medication – because it is certainly not because I don’t remember. I appreciate every single person who touches my life.

Finally, thanks, Google. 🙂

Ok, folks. I loved writing this. In fact, I’ve made up my mind to feature one blog on my blog Going A-Musing once a week. I read such fabulous ones every day! I do it from time to time, but now I’ll set aside a specific day every week to do it.

Thanks, Blogjunta, again for letting me show off my favorites. Had it not been for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.

Let me sign off with this lovely quote:

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.”  ~Meister Eckhart

Cheers!

Vidya