I was very skeptical before going to the meet. I know all of them but only in the virtual world. Other than Nandana who blogs at cheerful tornado I never met anyone else. Roshni (IndianAmericanMom) came to India and wanted to meet all of us during her shortest stint in Hyderabad. As every one had their prior plans, only a weekday evening was the best timing for all of us! Shail Mohan who blogs at Shail's nest luckily came to Hyderabad around the same time and on one fine evening we all planned to meet at a cafe- Beyond coffee in Jubilee hills- Hyderabad . Bhavana (theEarthWoman), Nandana and Arpna-a new girl in blogosphere, atleast to me (http://04arpna.blogspot.in/ ) happily joined! I never went to any bloggers' meet other than the one organised by Indiblogger.in in Bangalore and I didn't enjoy it much. I was all the while searching for some known face or a group to mingle with. I did make new friends but that meet was my first and last as I didn't feel like going to any "BIG" meets after that. I felt like a small fish in the sea of whales and sharks then but this time it was about meeting blogger turned friends and I was pretty excited.
Most of us met in the group indibloggeshwaris and bonded during the A to Z challenge- 2013. We were talking our ears out before we realized it. Like Shail said after the meet on her FB album, friends do come in all sizes , shapes , ages and regions! I too realised that to bond and speak your heart out you need not be of same age or study together or speak often. We all traveled back to our school/ college days. The way we giggled endlessly goes to prove this :D We spoke anything and everything other than blog , bloggers and blogging. We all forgot our life inside or outside the blog for those few hours and enjoyed every second we spent together. I eagerly listened to Bhavana's travel experiences, Roshni's and Shail's anecdotes and it was great meeting Nandana after so long. We all posed to Shail's and Bhavana's amazing cameras and I managed clicking some good ones too with my phone!
As our spirits were rising high we got our order which just multiplied the smiles. The chicken manchurian was a hit as our Roshni hearted it. She wanted to taste some more chicken manchuria and said "Chicken Manchuria" please when the waiter asked for desserts ;) Food was not great but we anyway found our conversations more interesting than the food. After food ,came the turn of goodie bags ! Shail bought the special kerala chips for all of us. I got my favorite Banana chips. Roshni bought a cute purse which had Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a lovely nailpolish and a moisturiser. I just loved her assemblage! I gifted a pair of ear rings to each of them and I was so glad the pair I planned for each matched with their dresses (more or less). I was happy as they loved them!
We sat for a long time. We were happy as the cafe was not crowded or noisy which gave us a chance to click to our hearts' content. Below is the collage which gives the glimpse of that day! After tasty chicken manchuria, taste less vanilla pudding , some veg pizza and some other items from the menu which were not great, we idled , chatted and clicked some more. We didn't want to but we had to disperse. Heart longed for more but it was getting late in the night and we just had to bade bye to each other :-( ! We hugged and promised to each other that we should plan this often! Now , I am not sure when we will meet again but these moments will be cherished by me forever. Roshni left for US and every one got busy with their lives. If life throws such an opportunity again I am sure I would love to take it. In April we have one more blogger meet. I am hoping I won't face any obstacles then!
Meeting the bloggers turned friends was truly exciting! I will cherish the day *12-12-13* and the moments. We all surely turned 16 again ;) . ♥ u guys! It feels so good to write in this challenge about people whom I met during "A to Z blogging Challenge - 2013"
This is the 2nd post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2014" !
Most of us met in the group indibloggeshwaris and bonded during the A to Z challenge- 2013. We were talking our ears out before we realized it. Like Shail said after the meet on her FB album, friends do come in all sizes , shapes , ages and regions! I too realised that to bond and speak your heart out you need not be of same age or study together or speak often. We all traveled back to our school/ college days. The way we giggled endlessly goes to prove this :D We spoke anything and everything other than blog , bloggers and blogging. We all forgot our life inside or outside the blog for those few hours and enjoyed every second we spent together. I eagerly listened to Bhavana's travel experiences, Roshni's and Shail's anecdotes and it was great meeting Nandana after so long. We all posed to Shail's and Bhavana's amazing cameras and I managed clicking some good ones too with my phone!
As our spirits were rising high we got our order which just multiplied the smiles. The chicken manchurian was a hit as our Roshni hearted it. She wanted to taste some more chicken manchuria and said "Chicken Manchuria" please when the waiter asked for desserts ;) Food was not great but we anyway found our conversations more interesting than the food. After food ,came the turn of goodie bags ! Shail bought the special kerala chips for all of us. I got my favorite Banana chips. Roshni bought a cute purse which had Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a lovely nailpolish and a moisturiser. I just loved her assemblage! I gifted a pair of ear rings to each of them and I was so glad the pair I planned for each matched with their dresses (more or less). I was happy as they loved them!
We sat for a long time. We were happy as the cafe was not crowded or noisy which gave us a chance to click to our hearts' content. Below is the collage which gives the glimpse of that day! After tasty chicken manchuria, taste less vanilla pudding , some veg pizza and some other items from the menu which were not great, we idled , chatted and clicked some more. We didn't want to but we had to disperse. Heart longed for more but it was getting late in the night and we just had to bade bye to each other :-( ! We hugged and promised to each other that we should plan this often! Now , I am not sure when we will meet again but these moments will be cherished by me forever. Roshni left for US and every one got busy with their lives. If life throws such an opportunity again I am sure I would love to take it. In April we have one more blogger meet. I am hoping I won't face any obstacles then!
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| The Blogger-Friends meet (No pic courtesy as I am not sure who clicked whom;) ) |
This is the 2nd post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2014" !
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Interesting read...was not aware you r into blogging...great to know it...
ReplyDeleteNow that's an interesting fact to me that u were not aware that I was in to blogging :)
DeleteThanks suyash
It is always heartening when we forge our friendship beyond the worldwide web.
ReplyDeleteTrue that
DeleteThansk for the comment!
Oh I loved reading this and walking down memory lane once again. How we laughed! And the gifts were cool too. Hey, I loved my pudding. I think that was the best in food that day, the NY cheesecake!
ReplyDeleteOh ya , I remember that we finally decided that was the best among the ordered items. U r a lucky girl :) My vanilla pudding was badd!
DeleteLovely!! I am reliving all the wonderful and hilarious moments!! hahhahah!! Yes, to see all your faces when I said chicken manchurian!!! That was just so much fun! Loved this write up, Afshan!!!
ReplyDeletehehe ya and I stole a piece or two from ur plate too :P
DeleteWish we meet again. Thanks for reading
You got chips AND chocolates too! Wooooooooow!
ReplyDeleteGood friends and good food.. recipe for a lovely time
hehe I know Hrishikesh , u wud have loved to join too for them ;)
Deletethanks for ur time here
FSo cute....could sense the love and warmth in the post. Looking forward to meeting my IB ladies sometime :-)
ReplyDeleteya some day we shud plan a "BIG" meet
DeleteLooking forward to meeting all of you one day. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is why I hate anonymity. I can never go for a bloggers meet. Maybe I should wear a mask :P
ReplyDeleteThat tiger waala mask.. :P
Deletehey wow yaar! I wish someday to meet all my blogger friends too! Such fun!
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the pictures on FB, and thinking, these guys have had great fun. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! It reminded me of all the crazy bloggers meet I have been to. I have never been to a big meet but we do meet here often and everytime it is a laugh riot. Now I want to meet you lady :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I reach bangalore before the april meet! I feel like I know u more now & can't wait to meet :)
ReplyDeleteAh.. meeting some like minded people is always fun especially when they are bloggers. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you all had a great time. Hopefully someday I too will meet up with all of you. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, looks like you guys had so much fun. I have never attended a bloggers meet but would love to! I'm actually a very silent person so I have this fear of being left out ;P Maybe some day we can meet in a meet. I would definitely love to meet you :)
ReplyDeleteWow,liked your experience of meeting blogging friends.
ReplyDeleteA small meet is more fun than a big one :) the thing is, our small group bands together even in big meets. so don't feel out of place. ^_^ I remember seeing the pics of course of this one.
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice when we can meet friends from online. I have a bunch I would like to meet one day. But not at a Blogger event but in a more intimate setting like this one. I hope you get to go again.
ReplyDeleteSo fun to meet blogger friends! It is always a bit scary but then so easy :)
ReplyDeleteWe had two blogger meets, one on a friday and another one on a sunday recently. It's was an awkward moment as I started out, but now I have got socializing without the fears that a recluse faces, in such meets!
ReplyDeleteSounds so much fun. Your words said it all. Hope you turn 16 again, and again and again..
ReplyDeletewow.. cool anecdote that was.. hope to be part of one someday ...
ReplyDeleteWHoaa sounds FUn :)
ReplyDeleteIt is so fun when you share a common interest and very little else matters! I have a group of friends I share a doll hobby with! We are passionate about photography and dolls! I love them all and one of my best friends and I met through this group, online! Thanks for a great post! jean :)
ReplyDeleteHow very fun for y'all! I got to meet a bloggy friend (Synnove @Don't Chew On The Dinner Table) when I was visiting Nashville last month. We spent two hours talking non-stop; it was as though we had known each other all our lives instead of maybe a year through blogging. We didn't need much small talk, as we already knew so much about each other through our blogs. And if I ever go to India, I want you to take me for Chicken Manchuria, because it is obviously worth it! :)
ReplyDelete