Bhopal - A Prayer for Rain

30 years gone in vain
Still fresh is their pain
The memories of that unfortunate night
Brings on their face horror n fright
After effects haunt even today
Why have the culprits been let away?

These were the thoughts that immediately struck my mind as I walked out of the theatre after watching the special preview of the movie Bhopal - A prayer for the rain. The incident is very special to me, since it occurred the same year I was born. My dad tells me the next morning, the whole nation woke up to grief and mourning. The number of casualties was rising every hour. Seeing the images of those who suffered, many weren't able to take a single morsel down their throat. My heart bleeds when I think about the plight of the people who suffered that unfortunate night. We Indians respect and worship our jobs as 'anndaata'. So did those people, not knowing that their very own anndaata would not only take their life, but also haunt the generations to come with their sins.

The unfateful night of December 2-3, 1984, when many people embraced sleep to wake up to a new day, one act of negligence made it the last night of their life. Many might have weaved hopes of new beginnings on a new day, when they would go to their work and earn a better livelihood.
But the leak of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide MIC plant poisoned their dreams to death.

Media and the film industry have touched upon this topic many a times. Several documentaries have been made highlighting the legal and political aspects. But, what about the emotional trauma faced by the people who lived that torture that very night?

Last Sunday, me along with team of bloggers were invited by Indiblogger and Rising Star entertainment for a special preview screening of the movie. Having seen umpteen number of documentaries on this subject, I was not hoping for any new aspect that would enlighten me. However, by the end of the movie, I was sobbing my hearts out for the unfortunate ones who suffered at the hands of Union carbide.

The film portrays the event from the eyes of the very people who lived it. Dilip (Rajpal Yadav), a poor rickshaw puller is the protagonist. Like many others around him, he too struggles with poverty, hunger and family responsibilities. The only hope of a better life and escape from hunger is Union Carbide, a multinational company that had set up its MIC pestcide plant in the vicinity. Dilip and others aspire to work with Union Carbide, as they see others wearing their uniforms and earning for their family's happiness. Everyday, many men waited outside the Union Carbide office in the hope of becoming a Carbider one day. What they didnt know was that behind the glitz and glamour of being a Carbider, there was 40 tonnes of poison waiting to annihilate everything around.

While the dirty game of capitalists and selfish political interests continued, innocent people suffered to the hands of negligence. 

Rajpal Yadav as Dilip, does complete justice to the role. Tanishtha Chatterjee plays the supporting wife who can do anything to support her husband.

While i had gone with no expectations, by the end of the movie, I had tears of empathy and I felt like one of the victims.

We all know what happened that night, but the movie is a must watch to know how people actually felt that night.

Bhopal - A Prayer For Rain releases on December 5th.

Jaipur Literature Fest is here!!!

Come January and all bibliophiles head to Jaipur for Asia’s biggest literary festival – the Jaipur Literature Festival #JLF. The festival, which has been organised at Diggy Palace Hotel in Jaipur since 2006 serves a platform for people from the writing world to share their views while it’s a perfect treat for us bibliophiles to listen to them!

Over the years, the festival has seen its popularity grow exponentially. Art, music, food, literature, panel discussions, readings, debates, performances, book launches…there’s so something for everyone. 

And the best part – the festival is absolutely free!

While the festival has been blessed by literary heavyweights like Mahasweta Devi and Salman Rushdie, it has also welcomed new authors with open arms, and one can witness many book launches at the festival. Some controversies also come in, but they just add up to the popularity of the event.

Last year, the festival witnessed almost 300 authors from around the globe, 150 poets, musicians and performers and more than 1.5 lakh visitors! It was a delight to have Mahasweta devi, Dalai Lama, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and many other celebs share their thoughts.

This year, the five day festival (January 17-21) will witness 240 authors. While debates and discussions will be the regular items on the menu, there will also be special sessions on Crime and Punishment, Democracy Dialogues, Women Uninterrupted and Endangered Languages. 

Some of the popular speakers this year are – Amartya Sen, Amish Tripathi, Ekta Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Shashi Tharoor, William Dalrymple.

Here’s the agenda for the first day of the festival.

One can register and enjoy art, music, literature and food at one of the best literary fests of the world!

MindRocks Shillong 2013

After a rocking youth summit in Delhi, Mindrocks decided to play the Santa for the youth of North East! And so India Today organized a rocking Mindrocks youth summit in Shillong!

Mind Rocks is an event designed especially for the youth. The daylong conference is a forum that allows bright young minds to interact in an open two-way conversation with their icons. A space where inspirational leaders from different spheres of life share their success stories. A festival that celebrates through ideas, music and art by recognizing the best in the field and also giving youth a stage to create, perform and engage.

I have attended the Delhi summit in September and what an awesome experience it was! Got to see all my celeb youth icons LIVE! Here’s the link to my coverage post for the Delhi event!

Having seen the action live in Delhi, I was super excited for the Shillong event and the link for live streaming all set on my browser window! Here’s the link to mypre event coverage…

This year’s summit was sponsored by Meghalaya tourism. On the morning of 23^rd, the State Convention Centre in Shillong was jam packed. Excitement was evident on the faces of youngsters waiting for the event to start!

The event began with a Keynote address by Dr. Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya. A politican with multiple talent, he surprised the crowd with a superb song. I was like, “He sings so well!”. Having got into politics at a young age, he emphasized the need for the youth today to have the right orientation, so that India can get more leaders from the youth. A lot of good things happen too, and the politicians need to connect with ground reality and tell people what exactly happens, he said.

He was soon joined by Vivek Oberoi and Rabbi Shergill and the Jingle Bells made the crowd go musical!

After politics and celluloid, the next session was with 2 women of substance. The theme was “Outsider in my own country” Zerifa Wahid, Actor, Assamese films and Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder, Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network spoke about how the women from NorthEast are looked at differently in other parts of India. They cited their own examples when they faced indifferent behaviour elsewhere due to their different looks. Zerifa Wahid said the women of NorthEast need to project themselves to the rest of the country, and for that they need the patronage of the government. A shocking fact was revealed by Binalakshmi Nepram – 67% of the crime incidents against women in Delhi are against women from the North East! She also said its time for the country to recognize the women of North East.

Vivek Oberoi took on the stage and spoke to the crowd about making it big in Bollywood. Hardwork and hardwork gets one to the top and one has to go beyond the materialistic things in life..

It seems politics ruled the summit for a good deal of time. The next session was about New Politics for new India. Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, Head of the Royal House of Tripura and Editor, The Northeast Today spoke about the recent wave of the Aam Aadmi Party and the trials and tribulations of successful governance.

After a heavy political session, it was treat time for sports lovers. Akhil Kumar, Boxing Gold medalist, Commonwealth Games, 2006 came on stage and spoke about the motivating factors that helped him reach where he is. Cinema has a great influence on the youth and right motivation, the right decision at the right time does the trick.

Soon, the strings of guitar got the people rocking for singers Papon, Rabbi Shergill and Monica Dogra were on stage! It was funny when RJ Aparshakti got Papon and Rabbi shergill to talk about how they were named.

Monica Dogra spoke about the musical connection and how music influences everything. Parvathy Omanakuttan, Miss India 2008 spoke about her journey from the Backwater to beauty contest. She came across as a very practical person with a mind of her own. Doing what one believes in is the right thing. She even said she wouldn’t endorse something she doesn’t believe in.The beauty queen also demonstrated how to do a catwalk.

The next session was with former cricketer Ajay Jadeja. Teams are run on ideology and you can't have different thoughts in the team, he said. He shared his views on BCCI, the good and bad side of the game and even said, "Cricket has nothing to do with individuals, it is a team sport and the best example is Sachin Tendulkar"...right!

 Finally, it was Abhay Deol who stole maximum limelight on stage! The crowd went wild as he spoke with his signature sweet shy smile. He spoke about his simple roots, innovation in cinema and the stereotypes in Bollywood. Proving his sweet self, he sang “Emotional atyachaar” with the audience and was also seen grooving to “Senorita” with the youngsters.

The event ended with a rocking musical performance, a signature feature of all Mind Rocks events.

My blog is once again proud to be associated with Mind Rocks and India Today for this amazing event that brings youth and celebs together! Already waiting for the next summit!

Shillong, get rocking with MindRocks!!!

Unleashing the power of youth across India – well, India Today knows it best. After a rocking youth summit in Delhi in September (You can read my Delhi event coverage here), the event is headed for Shillong.

The event will get together the youth with their favourite youth icons from various walks of life. The daylong conference is a forum that allows bright young minds to interact in an open two-way conversation with their icons. A space where inspirational leaders from different spheres of life share their success stories. A festival that celebrates through ideas, music and art by recognizing the best in the field and also giving youth a stage to create, perform and engage. 

I had a rocking experience at Mindrocks Delhi  this September and I can’t wait to catch the action live from the Shillong event!

The speakers include

·         Dr. Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya

·         Vivek Oberoi, Actor

·         Zerifa Wahid, Actor, Assamese films

·         Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder, Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network

·         Shazia Ilmi, Politican, Social Activist, Journalist

·         Akhil Kumar, Gold Medallist, Commonwealth Games, 2006

·         Ajay Jadeja, former Indian Cricketer

·         Parvathy Omanakuttan

·         Papon, Singer, musician, composer, record producer

·         Rabbi Shergill, Singer, song writer, guitarist

And…

The very hot n happening Abhay Deol!

 Wats more, there is also a rock concert by Soul Mate!

Seeing so many celeb icons together in a single day was such a treat for me in Delhi (I still remember girls going crazy when Virat Kohli and Farhan Akhtar stepped on the stage!)…can’t wait to witness the icons interacting with the audience live and sharing their secret mantra of what makes them so rocking!

Wanna, be a part of this rocking event? Well, you can register here

Stay tuned for live twitter updates #MindRocks #IndiaToday!

See you at Mindrocks Shillong!

Dance it out for a safer and independent “her”

So what if the feet are bruised,

The spirit to strive gives me wings

A melody plays in the background

I forget the pain the heart sings

I may not have the best dancing shoes

But my spirit if set free

Would run and grab that precious chance

And as if no one is watching, I would dance!

The words are mine but the spirit is hers. She, the woman of India, who loves to dream, dare and dash. She loves to sing her own song and dance like no one’s watching. But the eyes of hungry wolves hovering in her city wouldn’t just let her dance. “She is a girl, she should be shy, behind the scenes, since when did she dare to step out, forget even dancing”, they say. And so, to discourage her, they play various mean games to stop her – teasing, taunting, and assaults. But she is a woman of steel. She knows how to get the step right and if required stomp on the foot of that guy getting too close. She might stay out to work for her family but she sure knows her duties back home, and smartly does the juggling solo dance with finesse! That’s the woman of today – brave, independent and with a heart of gold. 

She loves to live as if there is no tomorrow and dance like no one’s watching. And when troubled, she surely knows how to get back at them in her own way. Thinking of dancing against all odds, I am reminded of the famous artist Padmabhushan Teejan Bai. Born in a backward village of Chhhatisgarh, she faced suppression from the men folk for performing in a form that was male dominated. But she faced them all and went on to perform her way to success, and she is an icon today.

Saluting the spirit of freedom, Dance it out Indiblogger meet was apt to the women who dare. Unlike the usual meets which wrap up by sunset, this one went on till night. The microwaves came in handy as hubbies were instructed to be on their own for a day as wives had the full evening to dance it out.  As the meet progressed, there were few frowns as women safety is an issue that has been discussed and abused time and again. But the performance Jyoti bani Jwala, sent the message that no matter how many hurdles come our way, we need to keep the flame (Jyoti) burning inside. So, all inhibitions were kicked off, as we were safe in the unsafe city with numerous friends like us and the brave heart spirit.

As the winning team was announced, my face was lit up. For the Jyoti inside us had won! I chose not to look at my watch and danced it out for the women in my country who shed away the fear and step out of their homes to chase their dreams.

(Incidentally Jyoti is also the name of the December 16, 2012 gangrape victim who the nation named Nirbhaya. She too, went out to chase her dreams and to enjoy a free life. But some people couldn’t tolerate a girl enjoying her freedom and did their best to teach Jyoti and the women of our society a lesson. Jyoti may have died but the flame (Jyoti) inside every woman burns strong. I dance it out for every woman in my country who dares to live her life without being deterred by the if’s and but’s of the society. She may look fragile, but she is fiery like a tigress. Try harming her freedom and she will show how she can keep herself secure and safe.)

Here’s a song I wanna dedicate to the cause (women safety) that I dance it out for..."badal pe paon hain"

This post is written for the Dance India Dance Indiblogger meet...a once in a lifetime experience where we got to Dance it out with the Dance India Dance Season 4 judges...Master Mudassar and Master Feroz! Here's the facebook page for the Zee TV . Running in its 4th season now, Dance India Dance is a  famous dance show that has taken television like no other show has. 

Some pics from the Indiblogger meet… 

Mind Rocks youth summit, Delhi 2013 – a rocking experience that made my day

There are some moments in our life that give us immense joy…moments that are remembered forever. For me, Mind Rocks 2013 summit Delhi was one day full of pleasant experiences that I will never forget.

Waking up early in the morning on a lazy Saturday and reaching the venue at 8.30am seemed a task to me. But when I reached Siri Fort auditorium, I was amazed to see the swarm of youngsters at the registration desk, eagerly waiting to be let in. Once in, counters distributing the goody bag and food coupons welcomed us. Munching my donut, sandwich and sipping the flavoured milk, me and my blogger friends quickly surveyed the goodies inside the yellow sling bags…tummy full and bags full, we were all smiles as we entered the auditorium. And inside, the best surprise awaited us…bloggers had been allotted special seats in the front! “Wow! That means we can watch Farhan Akhtar & Virat Kohli that close!”, the three of us echoed in excitement!

Rocking Start

The auditorium was full of young power, students, professionals; all awaited the event to begin. India Today surely knew how to energize the crowd on a boring morning. So when the winner of Mind Rocks Be a rockstar contest, rock band Antriksh began their performance, the thump of the drums and resonance of the guitar strings had the crowd swaying.

The performance was followed by welcome address by Kaveree Bamzai, Editor, India Today. We were eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of our favourite youth icons…

Sportsmanship at its best with Leander Paes

When Kunal Pradhan, Deputy Editor, India Today, introduced the first youth icon for the day, Leander Paes, our eyes went wide with excitement. For not only was Leander looking super fit and dashing but the humbleness in his tone and the simplicity with which he spoke bowled us over! He shared the story of his childhood, his passion for the game, his struggle in the journey to success and his zest for life that keeps him going. He had mentioned he goes for any event only when he believes in it and his quotes did prove that. “If you can handle triumph and disaster at the same time, then let’s play the game and play it hard”...good words flowed until the buzz of the siren signaled it was time for the next session.

Bhangra with the rap queen

We were wondering who next and suddenly RJ Aparshakti Khurana from Oye 104.8 FM announced Hard Kaur! Hard Kaur, with her bindaas attitude and witty answers was an instant hit with the crowd. The story of a simple girl of Indian origin, Taran Kaur Dhillon making it big in the male dominated UK rap industry had us all impressed, while her impromptu bhangra and rap with the crowd had us all pleased. “Nobody is a superstar, skills come first”, was her mantra before the siren went buzz for the next session.

The fruit of risk taking

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, yatra.com spoke about the importance of failures in ones life and how the disappointments are just a catalyst to propel you to work harder towards your goal. He called the story of his life, his meandering ways – from his stint with entrepreneurship to his MBA from Insead, from the aftermath of 9/11 on his career to the life changing decision he took after being fired….he shared it all as budding entrepreneurs in the crowd heard with attention. “Don’t be afraid to take risk. You don’t know what will happen until you try it out. Seize the opportunity with conviction, focus and self belief” was his mantra.

Crime not age

If you thought Mind Rocks was just about fun, well, MindRocks also creates awareness in the youth about their rights and duties. The next session, crime and age spoke about the need for amendment in the juvenile justice act, in the wake of the Nirbhaya Gang Rape case. Dr. Kiran Bedi began the session explaining some eye opening facts about the juvenile justice act to create awareness amongst the youth. Despite being the icon that she is, she hit an instant connection with the youth when she said “Dil ki baat hoti hai to Hindi mein hi nikalti hai!” Gul Panag shared her concerns about women safety and earned a housefull of applauds when she questioned people naming their shops “Gulab Chand and sons” and not “Gulab Chand and daughters”while Nishta Gautam got us all emotional with her heart touching poem on the Nirbhaya Gangrape case. 

A panel discussion on juvenile justice act followed with focus on the need to amend the act so that crime, not age becomes the topmost priority in the eyes of law.

The appearance of Nirbhaya’s parents at the summit was a real emotional moment and many tears flowed as the parents spoke about how the act should be amended to punish true offenders who get unfair protection by the tag of being a juvenile. They also unveiled India Today’s campaign on juvenile justice act amendment “Crime not age”

How I wrote my first book

Author of the famous “Shiva Trilogy”, Amish Tripathi was next youth icon on stage. Taking us through his journey towards his first book, Amish spoke about how self belief, focus and being pragmatic helped him achieve success in his field. “Be open to questioning and stay focussed” was his mantra.

First Time Voters, critical elections

The next session was a real stormy one. For the panel included representative each from the major contending parties for the assembly elections – Deepender Singh Hooda from Congress, Mr. Sanjeev Kaul from BJP and Arvind Kejriwal from AAP. It was a real treat to hear the three of them talking about their commitment to improve the state of affairs and at the same time, telling their party to be better than the other two. Rahul Kanwal as the moderator was at his best, sometimes throwing the perfect question to get the Netas talking and also to cease fire whenever someone went overboard. The icing of the cake was when Arvind Kejriwal stepped to give his speech…for the crowd went bursting with enthusiasm as Slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai” echoed the venue.

Pet Pooja

Rain started by the time we were out for lunch and between the hide and seek that the raindrops played, we gorged on the spread laid especially for the young delegates. It was also time to tag our facebook profiles with the Mind Rocks hashtag and some picture posing with the mind rocks placards.

The real youth icon

Lunch was followed by an award ceremony to felicitate a young icon who worked to educate herself and others in her village and also took initiatives to create awareness about various social issues in her village. To our horror, our reserved seats had been grabbed by some college kids and negotiation skills were tested big time as we convinced them to get our seats back.

Chance pe dance with Lauren and Salman

The girls went ooh and the guys went aah as Salman and Lauren entered the stage and had the crowd rocking with their “perfect” lift and dance moves. They even obliged some enthusiasts from the crowd to join them for the dance moves while others danced in their seats. It was fun to see Lauren try Bhangra moves with much enthusiasm. She came across as someone very cute and friendly yet focussed. “Never give up, always push towards your goal” was her mantra.

Virat Kohli!!!

When Virat Kohli entered the stage, it was as if the whole auditorium was on wild fire. Jumps, shouts, shrieks, the crowd when ballistic with excitement. But that didn’t deter Virat, who shared how he learnt the right way from his mistakes. It was really inspiring to hear him talk about the rough patch when he was expelled from the Indian team. However, instead of sulking about it, Virat was positive enough to keep practicing and got back to his form, earning much appreciation and fame. “Stay determined, stay focussed, stay yourself” was his mantra.

Love, life and Relationships

After success tips by Virat Kohli, it was time to discuss love and relationships with Aditi Rao Hydari. However, more than the session on relationships, it turned out to be a session on Aditi herself. While RJ Aparshakti kept throwing requests for song, dance and her personal life, Aditi too was very sweet as she interacted with the crowd. Though it seemed her outfit was making a bit uncomfortable for her to dance so she tried her best to perfect the repetitive moves. A small contest followed where 3 guys from the crowd were asked to write a post card expressing their feelings to Aditi and the best one chosen by Aditi won a prize.

Stay Hungry, stay smart

Ajay Bijli of PVR cinemas shared his story from a boy who loved to watch movies in Priya cinema to the entrepreneur who revolutionized the entire experience of cinema theatres. From his favourite PVR theatre to getting the latest technology to viewers, his session was a real interesting one.

Icing on the cake

The last session was the session I had been awaiting all day long. And perhaps the whole lot of others too. For when Farhan Akhtar came on stage, the crowd went uncontrollable. The moderator Kallie Puri had to try hard to get the crowd calm so that Farhan could speak. Me and my blogger friends were just speechless, capturing every moment in our eyes, with a wide smiles on our faces. Farhan spoke about his passion for cinema that pushes him to try something new every time. His passion was evident from the fact that in childhood he watched a film everyday before going to school (and wake up early morning to watch the movie). With a great sense of humor, Farhan took on the house. The crowd couldn’t help but ask for more of Farhan and he too gladly performed a song and dance with the crowd.

After a day full of sessions, it was time to unwind. Hard Kaur took on to the stage and the crowd grooved to her performance on popular numbers.

Meeting so many youth icons on a single day was like a real dream come true, a magic box of celebs. Thanks India Today for making the day so special and the opportunity to be among the official bloggers for the event! 

You can catch highlights of the event at

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/youthsummit/delhi/2013/

Get rocking with MindRocks!

A successful nation is the one that unleashes the power of its youth and channelizes it for development. Youth has the power to make the impossible possible, the spirit to strive for a better tomorrow, the courage to stand up for what is right and the brains to think and innovate.

Recognizing the potential of the Indian youth and giving them a platform to express their opinion, India Today Group organizes Mind Rocks youth summitevery year. Since its inception in 2010, Mind Rocks celebrates the spirit of youth through ideas, music and art. The forum brings together youth and their icons, and when so many great brains get together under one roof, the flow of ideas is simply inspiring! While the icons share their success stories and tips, the youth share ideas bubbling in their mind. There are contests, performances, forums, lots of like minded people – all the ingredients for a perfect youth event!

Last year, Mind Rocks Summit in Delhi saw youth icons like Priyanka Chopra, Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Kanwal, Mary Kom, Imtiaz Ali and many others who shared the stories of their struggle to success. There were views, Q&A, contests and a rocking performance by Indian Ocean. You can read a snapshot of last year’s event here.

This year too, India Today is all set for a spectacular summit. The recent summit at Kolkata was a huge success with the likes of Chetan Bhagat, Brett Lee, Irrfan Khan and many others share their success tips. You can read the details of the event here.

The summit promises to recreate the same magic in Delhi on September 21, 2013 at Sri Fort Auditorium.

The speakers include icons who have made their mark early in their respective fields –

Virat kohli – Vice Captain, Indian Cricket team

Hard Kaur – British Indian Rapper & Hip Hop singer

Farhan Akhtar – Actor, Producer & Director

Mahi Vij – TV Actor & Model

Jay Bhanushali – TV Actor, Dancer & Anchor

Dr Kiran Bedi – Former IPS Officer & Social Activist

Amish Tripathi – Author

Ajay Bijli – Chairman & MD, PVR Ltd

Gul Panag – Actor, Model

Shraddha Kapoor – Actor

Leander Paes – Tennis Player

Chris Gayle* - Cricketer – West Indies

*Invited

Other Highlights of the event –

·   Interaction with the speakers

·   Live Rock Band Session

·   Digital RFID;

·   Photo Booth;

·    Like-man;

·   Gesture Music Game Kiosk etc. 

·   The ‘Real Youth Icon’ an initiative to recognize and reward the ‘Unsung Heroes’ in our society in association with UNICEF India

·   ‘SingAlong’ - Online KARAOKE Contest and their winners singing Live at the event in association with Singchana 

And that’s not all, the icing on the cake is a live performance by none other than Hard Kaur! Yipppeee! I just love her Hip Hop & it will be a treat to watch her perform live! Read more about the program at the Mind Rocks Summit official webpage at

Food, fun, contests, views, reviews, tips, performances and a lot of engagement – Mind Rocks promises to give youth the best of all! So, what are you waiting for? Registrations are open!

So calling all you future icons of tomorrow, come, hop in, Mind Rocks is sure to get you rocking!

This is a sponsored post for India Today Mind Rocks summit. I am proud to be among the official bloggers for the summit. Keep hopping in to my blog & twitter (@shaivisharma) for more details and live coverage of the event.

*Information courtesy India Today. Programme subject to change at the discretion of India Today Group and other event partners.

My first Indiblogger Meet

They say birds of a feather flock together. And thanks to Indiblogger, we, the free spirited birds of blogosphere get to flock together quite often at the much awaited Indiblogger meets.  I had been eyeing a blogger meet for quite some time now, having missed the HP Connected music meet. And so when a little birdie dropped a mail in my inbox about the HP Print Art IndiBlogger Meet, my reaction was something like this.

My 1^st meet and the meet encouraged us to bring family members along! Wow, sounded like a dream come true!

So last Saturday, papa, bhai & I reached Fortune Park, Gurgaon for the meet. Not wanting to get late for the 1^st meet, we ended up reaching half an hour early! Papa suggested we wait in the lobby since Mr. Sun was at his sunny best that day. And there in the lobby, I saw many bloggers waiting with their families. I didn’t know anyone of them, but just like you feel so happy to spot Indians when you go abroad, I was all smiles to spot people who shared the same passion as I did.

Finally, Rene asked us all to come in. A quick registration and we made ourselves comfortable. Now I was in a dilemma. I could see all bloggers around me and I was super excited to meet them all. But we all had come with families and it was tough to make out who was the blogger and who the family member! So I decided to play it safe and stick to my table.

But seems Indiblogger knew how to get people talking. The meet began by Rene asking who were the first timers, and soon after groups were assigned tables they had to go to and interact with the bloggers there. The bubbly bunch of galz next to me came to our table and introduced themselves, and the shy me got to know my first set of blogger friends. We soon joined the big table and my apprehensions were soon lost in the peals of laughter!

 I had read in various blogs that at Indiblogger meets, if you are lucky, you win cool stuff just for being there. And I witnessed this at my first meet. Prizes for being the youngest blogger, for picking numbers, for the best tweet, for the blogger who came with his brother! Wow! Indiblogger and HP were being generous! And then began the 30 seconds of fame. Being my first meet, I wasn’t prepared for any introduction. So, for me, this was like the times in school when the teacher popped questions randomly and the shy students prayed not being picked up. But I soon realized that everything in a blogger meet is about fun and knowing bloggers better. So, when a blogger sitting behind me claimed to being a crazy blogger, the Indiblogger team got a bit creative and thus began a small contest of being the craziest blogger in the meet. Few bloggers stood up and justified their craziness, with one blogger confessing that he is such a crazy blogger that he has forgotten many of his blog links. All my inhibitions gone in a minute, I too decided to give it a try and explained my craziness-how my blogging drives most of my decisions, right from holiday destinations to evening hang outs. For me, it was an honest confession but never knew it would win me cool HP speakers. Wow! I was on cloud 9!

But the party had just begun! And how can a party be complete without music, so here we were singing our own versions of Old Mac Donald, the old and young enjoying the chorus! Soon, we had the gentleman from HP who introduced us to a new generation of printers that would transform the whole printing experience at home! And that too in a cost effective way! A Q&A session followed soon after. 

I was appreciating their tagline “technology nurtures creativity”, when Karuna from lulupu.com came on the stage and actually proved it. As she showed us how the new HP InkAdvantage printer could make the school projects a fun and easy to do affair, papa and I remembered how we had to run from piller to post just to get the right picture for my school projects. Thanks to HP, life would be much easier for my kids!

Seems Indi team had decided to keep the event totally action packed. So after Karuna was done with her demonstration, the team divided the crowd in groups of 15 and each group was asked to decorate a table using material provided. But there was a catch, every team was given a theme for the party along with a deadline and some instructions. People completely unknown to each other were working as a team to get the task right! Now this was magic that only Indiblogger could have managed and they did it very well!

I was amazed to see the creative crafty side of the bloggers present in the room. From pirates to mermaids to circus jokers, we had it all in one room! Our team was hoping to win for the most messy team (we even had a funny name to our team ”Zebra ka Debra”), but were spared the torture! The winning team was all smiles and the guy who got the best won himself a printer! Wow, this was cool! The team also announced a contest where the best blog about the  meet could win a HP printer! Wow!

In 2 hours, the crowd in the room had been transformed to a big family, and when it was time for the group pic, bloggers from different walks of life joined hands and echoed “say cheese”, a truly Indiblogger moment!

We soon collected our tees and my brother declared “Now that I have an Indiblogger tee, I too will become a blogger.” And he looked totally inspired!

No party is complete without food, and Indiblogger had ensured there was lot of lip smacking food for the bloggers. Tired after so much of hard work, the bloggers dived for the goodies! I have a sweet tooth and seems the trifle was there just for me, so I indulged myself without inhibitions.

It was time to say goodbye. As we exchanged blog links and numbers, I was wondering that I had walked in with just 2 family members but walked out with so many of them! A family that shared the same passion as I did and a family that embraced first timers with open arms!

As I confessed it was one of the best times I had in the recent past, a blogger friend told me, “now that you’re here, never miss the meets, the fun has just begun!”. And yes, she is so right, the fun has just begun!

Thanks HP & Indiblogger for making my first meet such a memorable experience! Already looking forward to the next meet!