Sometimes we all fail to see the forest through the trees. Our noble TEAM Sulekha gathers garlands gallantly and sometimes has been known to shower us with praise and an occasional gift. In each and every case they build our forest of Blogs and inspire us to new heights. While this is appreciated greatly, I have often said that within our noble Blogdom there are two bright stars not just one.
The one and obvious star is our Blogs, these are savored and rewarded as they should be, they are the crowned King of Sulekha. Elegant and honored by all, rewarded with contests, showered with laurels and even monetary prizes. These have been recognized by rewards, rank, Kalyanee, RJ, Kamalji, Red, me and others over the years. Some are featured others are notably noted. Our Blogdom does alot for our Blogs.
Yet through the trees of Blogs we miss the Forest of responses. The responses far outnumber the Blogs, even in my case a self admitted poor responder. The responses are the blood that give our Blogs sustenance. A Blog without a response is a sad and lonely part of our Blogdom. It is a barren tree without leaves. With responses camaraderie is nurtured, relationships are built and friends are made that may last a lifetime. Let me try in Hindi: Ghar ka Jogi Siddhjogna, Aan gaon ka, and Tamil Ikkaraikku Akkarai pachchai. You see we are ignoring our wife, our partner...১) গেঁয়ো যোগী ভিখ্ পায় না। ২) এ পাড়ার মেধো, ও পাড়ার মধুসূদন।..... While I wish I had the time to champion this cause I unfortunately do not. Yet I do have an idea, a suggestion for an enterprising Blogger.
Rather than have a regular Blog on great ( or even in Red's Blog poor and great) Blogs, why doesn't someone who enjoys reading the Blogs and has the time to regularly read the Blogs reward the responses rather than the Blogs themselves? Perhaps the TEAM is too busy but normally when the TEAM is too busy we Bloggers take the bull by the horns and do things ourselves. Here is a chance for some smart, diligent writer to become known here at Sulekha. It does not have to be one it can be several, perhaps a beautiful duet like RJ and Kalyanee or perhaps a solo effort like our friend Red. Or perhaps several.
I suggest taking three to seven responses that are important or beautifully written and highlighting those. Not only would this garner readership for the original Blogs ( that the reviewer might link and describe succinctly, but the responder would be rewarded. The other thing this would do for opur community is that responders would be vying for notoriety and their responses would certainly improve either with more wit, better structure, more profound or have more humor. I believe it is a Win- Win scenario for the whole of Sulekha's Blogdom.
Can we encourage someone to see the forest through the trees? I hope so.
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Hey Krishnan !! Thanks that was a very kind response.... it is an uphill battle I am afraid......
Dude you are in Naperville? LOL I grew up in between Chicago (Gold Coast) and St. Charles. In fact I am going to be in Geneva for a few days visiting my Mom the first week of Aug. How do you like it? Naperville is an OK town ( a little slow) but a gr8 place to raise kids... and not too far from the City for a dose of culture. Problem is the weather absolutely sucks except for about a month in Spring, a month in Summer (if you are lucky) and 6 weeks in Fall.
I assume you are a parent and if so one of the best schools in the country is near by.... http://averycoonley.org/ Every kid I know that went to this school is a star.
I went here: http://www.elginacademy.org/new_site/menu/index.html
Cheers mate !
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Dear Spencer,
Sitting in the desert where not a blade of grass grows ( I am drawing no analogy with the photo presented) you have the greenest ideas to make the Sulekha traffic interesting. To make some relevant comment crisp and witty or more knowledgeable on variety of subjects, I think the responder requires to know more than the blogger himself and on a broader canvass. While what he gets for the labour is a simple TNX or Nice you visited my page etc. and some bloggers avoid individual acknowledgement and go for ration-card marking just mentioning the names while a few others couldn't care less and rest content with posting the blog and let the the comments posted, reach the Dead Letter Office. Sulekha is a bloggers paradise and a commentators grave yard. Bravo, you are elected to the post of President of *SRAI and will vote for you in case you stand in the next election ! (* SULEKHA RESPONDERS' ASSOCIATION OF INDIA)
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Hi LP.....;-)
" it is nice idea but we have so many good blogs coming up every minute that we cant write in details about each blog"
No buts about the fact there are many good Blogs..... and actually that is my POINT.....and why it is beneficial to have THE MEMBERS promote......
In effect we have several methods for recognizing the Blogs:
1) We have the Team Sulekha featuring Blogs.. ( However, the Team informed me over a year ago that this was not based solely on QUALITY it was also based on promoting certain members who would not normally be promoted solely based on QUALITY) So this combined with the Team's non published credentials ( if any) is not a good measure for gauging quality.
2) . Then we have a very accurate gauge on each of our home pages where we the authors rate our best blogs.....
3) Also we have the option to recommend others Blogs and while this is somewhat accurate more often than not it becomes a popularity contest rather than a true rating system.
4) We also have several Blogger who showcase their opinions of important Blogs and others are welcome to add to that or have discussions on the choices the Blogger puts forth.
5) Finally we have contests, yet these are very suspect again because of the Sulekha Team not publishing their credentials for being a judge abd therefore their credentials are suspect and this taints all the contests ( particularly poetry).
I have suggested many times that the Team not judge the contests and select a panel of seasoned Bloggers with credentials and give them the entries numbered rather than signed ( so the judges do not know who wrote each of the entries) then take the top entries and have the Bloggers rate them fro best to worst ...compare... and we have the winner, runner up etc...
Now, while there is all this for the Blogs there is nothing for the responses and as they are the life's blood of Blogging, they should be showcased somehow..My suggestion is that some Bloggers showcase the responses just as some do for the Blogs... The bottom line is the actual Blogs end up getting showcased as well so if my suggestion is implemented it kills two birds with one stone. (and saves us valuable time searching) because as you say we have limited time.....:-)
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Hello,
it is nice idea but we have so many good blogs coming up every minute that we cant
write in details about each blog.......When i statrted i did not get a single comment on my
blog for two months......Time constraints us......lets try.....We always want to express our
ideas in details but so many activities going on sulekha that we do not want to miss the
bus !! If i give my example...I am moody writer like many here.....regards.....Aruna
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Nargisji...;-) I need a place to rant and rave and my Bilingual Blog is not the place.. LOL .. Antagonist.. who me????? Come on... you know me I am a lamb.. I just don't like being led to slaughter.. baaaaaa baaaaaaa.
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Hey Spencer..........
The antagonist has turned into the protagonist? 
OMG....Let me come back when I'm through with ROFLing.....
As for the responses...sure, I guess Lrao, Swarajya and Maria S could easily qualify to shine in that category....:-}
What?
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Hi Bunty..;-) ROFL... L rau can't write???? Yah and I am reborn today as a Hindu who speaks every Indian dialect..... Sureeeeee she can't write.... LOL That is what I call extreme and ridiculous modesty...
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Hiya Spencer,
Having a mag that commemorates responders is a great and creative idea of spreading the fun element and getting everyone interested.
I already envision my friend LRao being one of the stars here. Funnily she says she cannot write / express but her responses are just fantastic!
Last but not the least...I'm happy that you will be having some fun here and entertain all of us with some audacious references...lol!
Bunty.
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Hi BM, well we are all guilty of that.. sometimes we just want to say hi or show our support quietly.... yet one who never gives an in depth reply probably should,not get the respect that I am suggesting in the Blog or in the earlier responses.....
One of the unfair realities here at Sulekha and other Blog sites as well is this.....
Suppose you write a three paragraph response to this Blog....... Then I visit your blog and leave a one liner.....most feel we are even, but it is the difference in taking someone out to dinner and someone taking your child for a week long ski vacation and paying for it all.
Therefore, in my opinion it is the number of words rather than the amount of visits that makes two Bloggers..... EVEN.
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That is a good idea - so many times I see comments like 'Good one' or 'Good job' or just a'
' - not that I don't appreciate it but like you said there is nothing in there for the responders so they just show appreciation in such a way that takes minimum time and effort.
If your way is implemented then people would be tempted to leave detailed, funny and insightful comments. I am all for it!!!!!!
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