Monday, February 9, 2009

Blog Ratna


If there were a BLOG RATNA award and you were the sole authority for selecting the winning candidate, who would you choose?


My choice is very clear. Of course the candidate is from the blogosphere. Otherwise he wouldn’t qualify for the award. He has been a friend for a couple of years or more whom I met for the first time three days back.


You might ask how a person one has not met can be a friend. The best way for me to answer that question is to quote from Ronni Bennettys comment on my post Senior Citizens, blogging is a passport to good health


Ronni says about blogging ‘…it is a godsend for friendship. Real friendships form among bloggers, as strong over time as in-person friendships. And with blogging, one's new friends might be anywhere in the world.’


It could be said that there is some similarity between blogoshpere friends and pen friends. But the latter is a rather confined field, usually focusing on one individual or just a few.


Talking about pen friends, have you read Kunal Basu’s lovely short story, The Japanese Wife (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2008. Rs.395) in his anthology by that name? Do try it.


Returning to Blog Ratna, I met this person at his hotel in Chennai on 6th Feb on my way to a function. It was as though we had known each other for a long time. He is a former journalist, retired from the Times of India ten years back. He can talk knowledgeably on many subjects.

But what has he done for the blogoshphere? First of all, he is an avid blogger. And, more importantly, he has introduced quite a few people to blogging. And they are good writers, worth reading. He has been a mentor and guide to many of them.


Look here, I can’t hold the suspense any more. If it were my choice,

the Blog Ratna goes to GV Krishnan (GVK) of Mysore.

My Take by GVK is an interesting blog to follow. Then there is MYSORE BLOG PARK, which GVK promoted as a ‘parking lot; a one-stop site showcasing bloggers’. The writers range from Lakshmi Bharadwaj (An Amateur's Attempts) an undergraduate student in U.S., to the Chennai-based great-grandmother, Maiji, (Memories and Musings) who has ‘seen history being made at various stages, and at times been part of it’. The topics covered are varied and fascinating. That is a tribute to the team handpicked by GVK.


Another GVK venture in the blogosphere is a group effort, Giving it a shot. It is a blog ‘that banks ideas awaiting people willing to try them’. There is more, but this post is getting to be too long to list all of them.


Well, do you agree with my choice? I suggest to those who are not familiar with the sites mentioned, to visit them and then come out with their opinion.


10 comments:

Nebu said...

If I am to decide the BLOG RATNA based on the number of comments, if you take it as factor for the number of visits, my vote goes to the The Urban Gardener

RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

I think your choice is very apt, Abraham. And you have given very good reasons for it.

The name of the award is most attractive.

Lakshmi Bharadwaj said...

yipee!! Mr. GVK finally got an award he deserved!! :-) Thanks, Mr. Tharakan for awarding him the ratna...cause I feel he truly deserved it! MBP is more than just a bunch of randomly thrown in blogs, its a group of friends...something like a community. If not for my grandfather and the support of Mr. GVK, I wouldnt probably have been a blogger. Mr. GVK's support has made me a frequent blogger and earned me great friends through MBP...i am forever grateful to him!! Nice to know you met him, I last met him right here in CA when he had been visiting. Amazing person. Agree with Raji mam, the right choice for an award would be Mr. GVK. Happy blogging!!!

Maddy said...

The pater of our little community - GVK alone deserves the award. He goes about his mission in the most splendid fashion - Great guy, that!!!

ER Ramachandran said...

Great choice Mr. Abraham.Congrats GVK and where is the Party tonight?

ERR

Happy Kitten said...

Perfect Choice!

He deserves this and even more. He is a great mentor.. May the Almighty bless all his efforts...

kallu said...

I agree, I agree. Blog Ratna to Mr.GVK. He's brought us all together - a family like community as Lakshmi says. I tried to stay away and I can't:-) MBP has contirubuted so much to our lives.

Unknown said...

Nebu, what I took into consideration was the all round contribution to blogging.

Unknown said...

Raji, Lakshmi, Maddy, ERR, Happy Kitten, Kallu,

Thank you for endorsing my selection. Shall come back to you on the subject.

Ashutosh said...

GVK truly deserves this award..Having worked with him on the "Rebuild India Mission", I absolutely admire his commitment and dedication towards anything that he gets involved in..