A fun way to gain viewership for your blog

 I came across Adite's post during one of the innumerable hours spent browsing  the net where she  invites writers and bloggers to participate in the Liebster Blog Award Challenge.. It is an interesting way to get acquainted with the creative spaces of others, and encourage others to do the same with yours. The result is more blog visibility and readership

 It is like the ripple effect. Adite for example has nominated my blog and tagged my blog along with the blog of ten others.  Now it is my turn to write 11 little known facts about myself, answer 11 questions which Adite has set for her nominees,  and frame 11 questions for the 11 bloggers  out there who would like me to nominate them and provide links to their blogs. Please leave your blog address in the comments box. To keep the ball rolling, you will have to do the same thing that I am about to do now. So read on

Here are hopefully  11 interesting, little known  about myself:

1.  I am currently living in Béziers, a name my father finds difficult to remember and even harder to pronounce.  "Where the hell is Béziers," my French friends ask me. "Is it on the map of France?" They are just being ultra-metropolitan because Béziers is a biggish town in the South of France, near the Spanish border. A few kilometers away from the Mediterranean sea , it is  one of the oldest towns in France. I frankly hated it when I came here one year ago. But it has grown on me and now that summer is round the corner I often scooter down to one of the attractions of the town;  the neuf écluses or the nine water gates built in a staircase pattern. It's incredible to see water gushing down from one level to another, filling up basins, and defying the laws of gravity hitching up boats step by step  to a level of 21.5 m,  within a distance of about 300 m. Once the boats are lifted up in this manner, they can cross the river Orb and rejoin the Canal Du Midi

2. I lived the first nine years of my life in Berhampore, another biggish, historical town in the north of West Bengal. A two film-hall town filled with winding alleys leading to the Ganges, black-faced monkeys jumping from one mossy terrace to another, and temple spires etched against the skyline. Berhampore to Béziers has indeed been a long journey.

3. Having spent most of my adult life in Pondicherry, a coastal town in South India where the climate can be described as hot, hotter and hottest, I fantasized about settling down in a colder place, Kashmir, the Nilgiris, the Himalayas. Now that I have tasted the cold how I can say without any doubt I opt for heat.

4. I have this unclassical look, short hair, eternally trouser clad even when I was in India. But my taste in music belies my looks. I am a fan of Indian classical vocal music. It pierces through all the layers of my being and appeals to the most vulnerable and quiet part of myself. My companion sometimes tries to imitate Indian vocalists and ends up sounding like a goat trying to clear its throat. 

courtesey Nate's Cartoons

5. I love bati chocchori which is a Bengali speciality; shrimps cooked with potatoes and ridge gourd in mustard oil, and magur macher jhol; a kind of watery catfish curry cooked with plantain and aubergines. My mother inevitably made it for me when I was down with a stomach upset.

6. I am a word freak. Just like some people like collecting stamps, shells, post-cards, I like collecting words. When I come across a new word I feel like a child opening the wrapper of a toffee to see what is inside.

7. I have a son. Now that is not very novel, though there are not many like Gandhari who can boast of being the mother of a hundred sons! But for me one son is enough. He is a source of happiness and worry and heartache and mystery. I don't know how I manage bringing him up but I do. Of course much of the credit goes to him too.

8. I am very bad at numbers. I can remember the line of a poem or a dialogue, hum the melody of a song after having heard it once. However I cannot remember my son's and my friend's and my own mobile number even though I have seen them a hundred times. I had this maths teacher, a sweetie, who still remembers me. You can guess why.

9. When I was a child I had this habit of picking my nose for which I was teased unmercifully by my classmates. I don't blame them. It's an unsavoury habit! But not that uncommon. I have seen people doing it when they think they are not being watched.

10. My mother was the first woman from our family to go out and work. I have a black and white group photo of hers from the 1950s taken with her office colleagues. You see a young, frail, sari-clad woman with owlish glasses and a long thick braid, flanked on either side by rows of unsmiling men. She was also the first woman to be recruited in that office.

11. The bulbous white domes of mosques, the delicate minaret spires rising against the sky is to me   visual poetry. How difficult it is to achieve this balance between mass and delicacy.

The next step is to answer the 11 questions.

1. What’s your favourite time to write or do creative work? And why? 
My favourite time to write is the morning, because that's when my mind is uncluttered and my batteries are recharged. However I can write all throughout the day if I get into the mood, and of course if I have the time.


2. What’s the first thing that crossed your mind when you woke up this morning? 
I wish I could sleep some more.

3. What’s the one thing that drives you batshit crazy? 
When I am in front of a situation over which I have no control. It keeps happening more and more with my teenager son.

4. Describe briefly any one unforgettable moment in your life.
Waking up early in the morning in my apartment and making two cups of tea one for myself and another for my lover who would be coming in a couple of minutes. The coolness of the morning, the feeling of being in my own space, the delightful sense of waiting for the person who had transformed my life will always remain fresh in my heart.

5. Which is your must-do dream vacation?
It keeps changing all the time. At the moment it's the Orient, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia...

6. Fill this blank: At age 10 you dreamt of “being _____ when I grow up.” 
At age 10 I dreamt of being a vet.


7. If you could travel back in time which “period” would you visit? 
I think I would perhaps go back to the time of the Chola dynasty (9th century-13th century) in South India. They were builders of magnificent temples and patrons of literature, architecture, fine arts. I would not mind being invisible and flitting from a dance performance to a musical soirée to a meeting of poets and writers and have a peek into the queens' quarters.

8. If you could transform yourself into a celebrity for one day, who would you pick?
I would be Gangubai Hangal, a musical legend descending from a lineage of courtesans. She had a unique voice, deep and powerful and sang with such poise and mastery that she transported you into her universe. I would like to sing like her even it is for one day

9. Complete this sentence. Fun is ________
Fun is improvising on the spot what I want to do and having the means and energy to put it into effect.


10. If you could change any one of your (bad) habits what would that be? (You’re not allowed to say you don’t have any bad habits!!)
I would like to be more decisive. My indecisiveness drives everyone , including myself, crazy.

11. Tell us something that excites you about your current project. 
My current project or my companion's and my current project is shifting to Bamako next year. Imagine going to Africa and being plunged in the whirlpool of African culture.  It's an incredible chance for a middle class Indian girl like myself. It's again going to be hot, hotter, hottest.

Courtesy: Critical thinking website

And finally here are my questions for you. 

 1. What are you passionate about?

2. How much do you enjoy your own company?

3. What was your favourite childhood read?

4.What is your reaction to unexpected changes in your life?

5. Do you believe in life after death or extra-terrestrials?

6. If you could be an animal what animal would you be and why?

7. When you are feeling low what brings a smile to your face?

8. How much time do you spend in the morning in front of your mirror before you feel ready to step out.

9. What sort of music do you like listening to?

10. Do you believe in destiny or in free will?

11. At the moment what kind of writing are you into?

                                                  

 Now it's your turn.

I need to find 11 bloggers. If you are interested leave your name and your blog address either in linked in or in the comments box below using the anonymous option since that's the easiest way  do it.  Your name will appear in this post with links to your blogs.

List of Bloggers

Welcome Shilpi to the Liebster blog award. Here's the link to your website: http://whenyoucomeundone.blogspot.in. Looking forward to reading your answers and questions.