"AIDS FOR KIDS" Winning Entry for Week July 24-30, 2010

[Sly Salesmen. Image: flyyoufools.com]

I. WINNING ENTRY

Statistics:

Number of Blogs updated this week: 19
Number of posts read this week: 44

This is a bit of a side note, but if you'll notice, we just have one extra number of blog updated from last week. Instead of 18, we have 19 this week. And, here's the freaky part; it's same the number of posts as last week. What are the odds it would be exactly the same number?

Best Blog Post of the Week

Winning entry for the honor of Best Blog Post in Delhi's blogosphere for the week of July 24 Saturday - July 30 Friday, 2010 is:

"AIDS FOR KIDS" by Saad Akhtar dated July 26, 2010 at "Fly You Fools."

About the Post: The post is actually a comic strip. Saad takes on the subject of dirty sales tactics some store salesmen use to make you buy their stuff. In this particular comic strip, he takes the example of a toy store salesman who guilt trips a mother into buying some over-priced plastic toy that probably cost pittance to make.

Interaction between the salesman and the lady customer is too funny not to read.

What I liked most about the comic is how the salesman has several modes which he switches to every time one of is sales tactic fails. Hilarious.

[Note: Some might object to this post being a winning entry because Saad's comics get published in Hindustan Times. However, you should know that I have confirmation by the author that this specific strip was not published. Therefore it qualifies to be a winning entry.]

[Saad Akhtar. Image: FYF]

About the Blogger: [ I don't have much information about the blogger. So I paste the following text taken from the blogger's About Page.]

"The author’s name is Saad Akhtar. He is a New Media designer from the National Institute of Design. He works as an Interaction Designer with a software company in Delhi."

Runner-up

This week, like last, we had only one contending blog post for the top pick. And the runner-up is:

"Hurray for illiteracy" by Nimpipi, dated July 27, 2010 at "The Woodchuck Chucks"

The post touches on the issue of how locally produced products have error filled labels in English on it. Something I'm sure we're all familiar with. Nimpipi, relates a personal experience where she offers her writing services to one of her favorite product manufacturing companies and yet gets ignored. Definitely worth a read.

II. STATE OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

I'm afraid, this week we have nothing to report. It was pretty much a quite week as far as Delhi's blogosphere in concerned.

However, if you consider Delhi Speaks Like This Only to be part of Delhi's blogosphere, then I have a major announcement to make.

Public Service Announcement

It is with great pain that I have to inform you that this is most likely DSLTO's last issue.

I didn't think it would happen this fast but, I have happened to come upon a bigger project, which will require all of my available time, leaving none for this blog. I'm really sorry to say it.

I am about to start and run an actual paper of sorts. I can not tell you more about it because I'll be running it under my real name.

Now since I'm the only one running DSLTO as of now, I'm afraid there will be no one to scan and read Delhi's blogosphere to pick a winning entry for next week.

Position Open for Editor at DSLTO

If there is anybody who would like to take on the responsibility of this blog, I'll be happy to pass it on to you. Let me know if you're interested.

Maybe Next Week

If we get someone to run this blog by next week, then we'll come out with a new edition. If not, then just check back later sometime.

I believe the idea behind this blog is a good one. And if I ever get time, I'll start it back again. Just stay subscribed to know when that happens.

Although I won't be scanning and reading the entire Delhi's blogosphere from now on, I do however read many Delhi blogs, and I'll try to highlight good blog posts whenever I come across one, on my personal blog at Abdusalaam.blogspot.com.

Hope to see you there.

Hopefully, until next time, take care and Happy Blogging!

[Read our previous issues here: Winning Entries]

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"City Hangout – Café Turtle, Khan Market" Winning Entry for Week July 17-23, 2010

[Text by Abdusalaam al-Hindi. Pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi.]

[Cafe Turtle, Khan Market. Image: The Delhi Walla]

I. WINNING ENTRY

Statistics: Before I talk about the winning entry for this week, let me provide you with some numbers.

Number of Blogs Updated This Week: 18.
Number of Blog Posts Read: 44. (Not considering guest posts.)

Best Blog Post of the Week

Although, there weren't many excellent blog posts to choose from, I was really conflicted between two of my final choices. I'll talk about it further below when I mention the runner-ups.

Winning entry for the honor of Best Blog Post in Delhi's Blogosphere for the week of July 17 Saturday - July 23 Friday, 2010 is:

"City Hangout – Café Turtle, Khan Market" by Mayank Austen Soofi, dated July 20, 2010, at "The Delhi Walla."

About the Post: Mayank, in his usual sentimental style, reviews a Cafe at Khan Market in central Delhi. His description of the place serves his reader with the feel, character and atmosphere of the place. You get to read characterizations like, "an experience almost bordering Proustian tranquillity." Now I haven't read Proust to know the difference, but I'm betting it's better than the regular kind of tranquility. The post is also accompanied with some beautiful pictures of the place, making it a fine post. [Link.]

[Mayank Austen Soofi]

About the Blogger: Mayank Austen Soofi, which by the way is his real name as I've recently found out, has been blogging at The Delhi Walla since May 2005. He also runs four more blogs; namely, "Pakistan Paindabad," "Ruined By Reading" (Members Only), "Reading Arundhati Roy" and "Mayank Austen Soofi Photos."

Mayank is probably the most popular blogger in Delhi, and among the most popular in India. The Delhi Walla's focus is entirely on the city of Delhi, its people, their faith, food, monuments, inner-city culture and everything else that makes this city so different from others. His coverage of the city is like no other.

He works and writes for the Hindustan Times on similar themes. And as per his blog, Mayank lives at Basti Hazrat Nizammuddin inside a library. However, it doesn't specify if it's an actual library or not. I'm assuming he means he is surrounded by books and does not live in an actual library.

Furthermore, and this is just as an interesting tidbit which I believe requires mentioning here since it is such an apparent characteristic of his online persona; Mayank holds a near obsessive fascination for the work and person of Arundhati Roy. I don't believe I've seen a bigger fan.

Runner-up

This week we only had one contending blog post for the top pick, and boy was it a close one. Runner-up for this week is:

"Employing Staff" by Naomi dated July 22, 2010, at "Delhi Bound."

I feel I need to explain a little why this blog post was such a close pick and why it did not make the final cut.

Before I talk about the post, let me give you some background information on the blogger.

Naomi is an American expatriate; wife of an American diplomat. I'm not certain on the diplomatic status, but is somehow connected to the Embassy. Her blog revolves mostly around her life and experiences as an expat in India, but more specifically in Delhi.

Now I don't want to cast any aspersions on her blog by what I'm about to say because it is a popular blog and I don't believe I'm even a target reader for her. So what I say should be taken accordingly.

As a liberal studies student, my interest in her blog is very much academic, which makes my overall interest in her blogging topics, rather tenuous. I seldom even read through an entire post.

However, this post in question was different from her usual stuff. Her blog entry is about how she deals with the domestic help she employs; a staff of eight people. And that grabbed my attention. Whatever she was about to say was bound to be interpreted in terms of foreign vs native. And I'm guessing she had sensed the sensitivity of the topic early on, because she makes it clear, right in the beginning, by stating, "Before anyone gets their panties in a wad over this expat from the United States writing yet another gripe post about living in Delhi, India and having the hellacious requirement of employing a staff ... it's not a whine (or a whinge) post."

However, it was too late for me, because the moment I realized what the post was about, the color of my computer screen had turned colonial brown. Naomi's American accent turned British. Naomi had turned into a Gori Memsahib about to lament the difficulties of finding good and competent domestic help among the natives. I had only begun to read, and my panties were already in a wad.

But she, I'm glad to say, tactfully and gracefully dealt with the subject without causing any offense to my sensibilities. My Offense-o-meter was dialed all the way up, to detect any hint of prejudice. And after I had finished reading her long post, and had come out the other side feeling satisfied with the outcome, I wondered why I even thought it would be any other way? I've been reading her blog for sometime now and I know what kind of a person she is. She is one of the good ones. I've never read anything that would lead me to believe otherwise. I guess my initial reaction to her article was more visceral than rational. And I'm a bit ashamed to admit it.

Now though her post was most interesting and captivating for me personally, I could not bring myself to call it the best blog post of the week based on the criteria I have set to make that choice. Unlike Naomi's post, Mayank's post has general appeal. It has all the elements of a good post. It is informative, concise, descriptive, accompanied with beautiful pictures, and above all, it's about Delhi.

This entire account is to tell you that I try to be as objective as possible in my choice. A little thought goes into making my final pick.

II. STATE OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

Public Service Announcements
 
This week I have nothing special to report. It was uneventful as far as the blogosphere is concerned.

However, I do have some exciting news to share. Mayank Austen Soofi, I have been personally informed, is soon to be a published author. Harper Collins is set to release a book on Delhi by Mayank sometime this year. I don't have specifics yet, but will inform as I receive them.

[POST SCRIPT JULY 28, 2010: I've been informed by Mayank, that there are four books titled 'The Delhi Walla' with different subtitles. And it will hit the stands in the first week of September this year. We wish him all the luck.]

New Additions to our Blogroll

This week we have three new additions to our blogroll.

1. "Delhizen's Blog" by Pallavi. (http://taxfreethoughts.wordpress.com/)
2. "SnowLeopard's Blog" by Prateek. (http://unpredictableblog.wordpress.com/)
3. "My Blogs-Food Delights" by Manjusha Sinha. (http://lajjatdaar.blogspot.com/)


Until Next Week

I hope this edition of Delhi Speaks Like This Only has been of value to our readers. You can show your appreciation by leaving a comment, or by simply clicking on the Facebook Like Button.

I hope you'll revisit us next week on Monday, August 02 at 8:00 a.m. for another edition,  announcing another weekly winning entry for the title of Best Blog Post in Delhi.

Till then, take care and happy blogging.

[Read our last week's issue HERE.]

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SUGGEST A BLOG: If you know a Delhi based blog you think should be included on our blogroll, then suggest it to us by leaving a comment or sending us an email at delhispeakslto[at]gmail[dot]com.
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Blogger Profile: Mayank Austen Soofi

[Mayank Austen Soofi]

Mayank Austen Soofi, which by the way is his real name as I've recently found out, has been blogging at The Delhi Walla since May 2005. He also runs four more blogs; namely, "Pakistan Paindabad," "Ruined By Reading" (Members Only), "Reading Arundhati Roy" and "Mayank Austen Soofi Photos."

Mayank is probably the most popular blogger in Delhi, and among the most popular in India. The Delhi Walla's focus is entirely on the city of Delhi, its people, their faith, food, monuments, inner-city culture and everything else that makes this city so different from others. His coverage of the city is like no other.

He works and writes for the Hindustan Times on similar themes. And as per his blog, Mayank lives at Basti Hazrat Nizammuddin inside a library. However, it doesn't specify if it's an actual library or not. I'm assuming he means he is surrounded by books and does not live in an actual library.

Furthermore, and this is just as an interesting tidbit which I believe requires mentioning here since it is such an apparent characteristic of his online persona; Mayank holds a near obsessive fascination for the work and person of Arundhati Roy. I don't believe I've seen a bigger fan.

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Blogger Profile: Purba Ray

[Purba Ray]

Purba Ray is a resident of Gurgaon living a happily married life with her husband and daughter. Ethnically a Bengali, but born and raised in Delhi.

Till about the end of 2009, she used to teach senior classes for Web Technology and Multimedia at some reputed school in Delhi.

However, when asked on how she got into blogging, she mentions in an interview with Weblog!, that she quit her job last year, for reasons not mentioned, and then later wrote about her new found freedom and shared it with her friends on Facebook. One of these friends happened to be a well established blogger, Desh Kapoor, who asked her to write for his online forum Drishtikone.com. And that's how she got introduced to the blogging world.

Four months ago she started her own blog titled A-Musing, and has been blogging fairly regularly ever since.

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"Musings of an Octopus Vulgaris." Winning Entry for Week July 10-16, 2010

[Paul the Octopus seen here predicting Germany Vs Spain match. Image: Kennysia.com (CC)]

I. Winning Entry

Out of a total of 39 blog posts updated and read last week (it was actually a few more, but we didn't consider the guest posts,) our very first winning entry for the honor of, Best Blog Post in Delhi's Blogosphere, for the week of July 10, Saturday - July 16, Friday is:

"Musings of an Octopus Vulgaris" by Purba Ray, dated July 10, 2010. Blogs at A-Musings. (http://purba-ray.blogspot.com)

About the Post: Purba, in a very creative and imaginative way, takes the perspective of Paul the Octopus -- probably the real winner to come out of this FIFA World Cup when it comes to popularity -- and speaks to us in Paul's voice, talking about his life. Starting from his humble beginnings as seafood to the new life as the Great Oracle Paul, with all the trappings of a lifestyle of the rich and famous that come along with it. It is a hilarious read.

The most memorable line has to be: "I will soon be needing a tax consultant, a PR team, a legal eagle to help me build my empire. I already know what I will call it – The Buoyant Clairvoyant Corporation.” [Link]

[Purba Ray.]

About the Blogger: Purba Ray is a resident of Gurgaon living a happily married life with her husband and daughter. Ethnically a Bengali, but born and raised in Delhi.

Till about the end of 2009, she used to teach senior classes for Web Technology and Multimedia at some reputed school in Delhi.

However, when asked on how she got into blogging, she mentions in an interview with Weblog!, that she quit her job last year, for reasons not mentioned, and then later wrote about her new found freedom and shared it with her friends on Facebook. One of these friends happened to be a well established blogger, Desh Kapoor, who asked her to write for his online forum Drishtikone.com. And that's how she got introduced to the blogging world.

Four months ago she started her own blog titled A-Musing, and has been blogging fairly regularly ever since.

Purba Ray is definitely among the best bloggers of Delhi we've come across.

Close Runner-up(s)

There were a couple of contending blog posts for the top pick. We list them below.

1. "How I Make Money With Shoutmeloud" by Harsh Aggarwal, dated July 12, 2010. Blogs at ShoutMeLoud (http://www.shoutmeloud.com/)

2. "Wish!" by Scribbling Girl, dated July 10, 2010. Blogs at My Personal Journal. (http://creativelyscribbling.blogspot.com/)

II.  The State of Delhi's Blogosphere

In our first weekly review of Delhi's blogosphere, we've come to realize that in our search for the best blog post, we are also in a position to get a read on the pulse of Delhi's blogosphere. So we thought, why not share this insight with our readers and make this an additional feature to our weekly service.

We will try to focus on issues which we think needs to be shared and spread around. Sort of a public service announcement.

To give you an example, this week we would like to draw your attention to a crime some bloggers face when it comes to intellectual property.

There have been many incidents where businesses for-profit have blatantly stolen a blogger's piece of writing or picture and passed it off as their own work. The most famous incident in Delhi's blogosphere that we know of is the case of an article published in  a SpiceJet in-flight magazine ripping off a blog post first published on Eating Out in Delhi blog. You can read more about it on EOiD's blog here: "SpiceJet’s Magazine: A Study in Plagiarism"

However, the incident we want to draw your attention is to what happened last week to a blogger by the name of Pavaani Bishnoi, who blogs at Pavaani.in.

According to Pavaani, a picture on her Flickr account was taken and used on a commercial website called SnapDeal.com without her permission or attribution to her.

Although, when she wrote to them citing copyright infringement, SnapDeal replaced the picture from their site, but never replied to her email acknowledging their mistake; assuming it was by mistake.

You can know more about this incident in Pavaani's own words, on her blog here: "SnapSteal." 

Until Next Week

I hope DSLTO's first edition has been of some value to our readers and we hope you'll revisit us next week, just like today, on Monday, July 26 at 8:00 am, for another edition of Delhi Speaks Like This Only, announcing another weekly winning entry for the title of Best Blog Post in Delhi.

Till then, take care and happy blogging.

Addendum @ July 19, 7:00 pm:

There are two new blog additions to our blogroll this week, which we forgot to mention earlier. We list them below:

1. desiderata. (http://desiderata-mumbai.blogspot.com/) (Now a Delhi-based blog.)
2. The Woodchuck Chucks. (http://issuedinpublicinterest.blogspot.com/)
  

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SUGGEST A BLOG: If you know a Delhi based blog you think should be included on our blogroll, then suggest it to us by leaving a comment or sending us an email at delhispeakslto[at]gmail[dot]com.
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Our First Winning Entry To Be Announced On Monday July 19 At 8:00 am

This is just to inform you that blog-post considerations for the week of July 10 Saturday - July 16 Friday, came to a close at mid-night. We will announce our winning entry on Monday July 19 at 8:00 am. (Well that's the plan for now at least.)

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Official Launch Date: Monday, July 19, 2010

[WE HAVE A LIFT-OFF. Image Via Flickr]

 Since we have stopped receiving submissions for blogs, we plan to formally launch this blog on the 19 July 2010.

Although the first winning entry will be posted on the 19, we will start monitoring the Delhi blogosphere from today Saturday, 10 July.

How it will work

The idea is that we will announce the best blog-post every Monday. However, we will review new blog-posts starting Saturday till Friday next week, and then announce the winning entry on Monday.

So to give you an example, the winning entry on coming Monday on July 19 will cover from Saturday July 10 till Friday July 16.

How Will We Choose

Now the big question some have asked is how will we make our choice? What will be our criteria?

To come up with the answer to this question, we had to ask ourselves a few related questions.

We asked ourselves, why do people read blogs? What sort of blogs people like to follow?

And in our opinion, people read blogs for two main reasons.

First reason is to learn something new. This is why blogs that offer information and knowledge on any given subject are the highest rated blogs on the net. Tech blogs like Gizmodo and Techcrunch have a large following because they offer the latest tech. information out there.

Similarly, political blogs like DailyKos and DrudgeReport offer analysis and inside news which makes them really popular.

Second reason is for pleasure. Reading for pleasure has many aspects to it. But blogs that offer entertainment are among the highest rated blogs. This is why TMZ and The Onion are among the highest ranking blogs on the net.

Besides entertainment blogs, people also read personal blogs for pleasure. Blogs that don't offer much information or entertainment, as we understand it, but they do offer voyeuristic pleasure. Since man is a social animal, we find it interesting to see how other people live their lives and try to relate to them. This is why so many of us read personal blogs.

However, personal blogs don't usually have a large following as compared to other kinds of blogs. Reason being I think, is because to follow a personal blog, a reader has to be able to relate to the blogger. If they can't, they just move on. And I don't think you can have a lot of people relate to a single person. This is why following for personal blogs are relatively small. And the reason I mention this is because most blogs we have on our blogroll are personal blogs. Blogs that don't have a defined theme. It's just whatever catches their fancy that day.

Since this aspect of reading for pleasure is the most subjective as compared to other aspects, it would be difficult to judge personal blogs objectively. However, since this blog is about Delhi Bloggers, bloggers who share something about their life in Delhi will get weighted higher.

So now that we know what most people like to read, we will choose those blog-posts which offer the most of these two elements: Information/Knowledge and Pleasure. Blog-posts which offer the most of the two elements we've mentioned, will be chosen for the blog-post of the week.

Although we will try to be as objective as we can, it should be obvious, the final decision will depend a lot on the personal taste and preference of whoever is doing the judging. We will try to explain our choice as best as we can.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our selection process, you can write to us in the comments section, or write to us at delhispeakslto[at]gmail[dot]com.

Do remember to subscribe to to this blog to receive updates. Subscribe box is situated on the top right-hand corner of this blog.

Spread the word.

Suggest A Blog

[Photo: Via Flickr (Kristina B)]

If you know of a Delhi blog which is not listed in our blog-roll and you think it fits our criteria for inclusion, then please tell us about it.

Special Note To Delhi Bloggers

Blogs you see on our list are about all the Delhi blogs we know of. If your blog is not on the list, then chances are we don't even know you exist. So whether you fit our criteria for consideration or not, tell us about your blog's existence.

Also, it is imperative your blog have a RSS feed in order for us to follow you in a RSS reader like Google Reader.

Leave the following information below in the comment section or simply write to delhispeakslto(at)gmail.com:

1. Your blogging name. 
2. Blog/Website Name
3. Website address/URL

Mission Statement For 'Delhi Speaks Like This Only' (DSLTO)

[INDIA GATE, New Delhi. Photo: Via Flikr, CC]

The objective of this blog is to scan the entire blogosphere of Delhi every week and then highlight/showcase the best, the most deserving to be read, blog-post.

Just one single blog-post in an entire week, every week.

It might sound like it'd be a difficult task to scan and read all of Delhi's blogosphere every week just to showcase one single blog-post, but right now, I believe it will not be that difficult.

To begin with, I do not believe there are too many of Delhi's residents who blog. And many out of those don't do it regularly and consistently. So, I'm quite confident we will be able to achieve our objective and be able to do it without much effort.

Criteria For A Blog To Be Considered

Only those blogs that are listed on this site's Blogroll will be considered and followed in our weekly assessment of Delhi's blogosphere.

And to have your blog enlisted in our blog-roll, a blog would have to meet the following criteria. (For the most updated criteria for inclusion go here -- Register Your Blog)

First, the author of the blog, aka blogger, must be a resident of Delhi. Resident in this context does not mean legal residency. All it means is that the blogger should be living in Delhi or its surrounding NCR regions; namely, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, for some reasonable span of time.

It also does not mean a blog will be disqualified from consideration if the blogger has temporarily moved to a different city outside of Delhi/NCR. As long as the blogger can be considered a Delhi resident, it will stay on our Blogroll.

Second, the blog must have been on the blogging scene for at least a few months with regular blog entries. (This rule is quite subjective.)

Third, there are some restrictions for inclusion based on the subject matter of a blog.

• Any business/company or commercial blogs will not be considered. In other words, if your blog is about promoting some product or service we can not consider it.
• Any blog that incites hate or violence against an ethnic/religious group will not be considered.
• Any blog that deals in the pornographic will not be considered.

For now these are the only rules that will be followed for a blog to be considered in our weekly review of Delhi's blogosphere. We're sure we haven't thought of everything. We'll add more as we go along.

I know these rules are a bit open to interpretation, but as they say, no rules are set in stone. We'll use them and modify them as need be. It's not like we're running a reputed international journal here.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can air them in the comment section below or write to us at delhispeakslts(at)gmail.com

(Note: For the most updated set of rules, please visit this link here -- "Register Your Blog")

Suggest A Blog

If you know a Delhi blog which is not listed on our blogroll, then please suggest it.

Launch Date

I'm still working on setting-up this blog which will take a few more days. Once I'm all done setting it up, I'll announce the official launch date.

Stay tuned...