All in a year's work.

Blog a ton. A year ago when all the hype about it started I had no expectations on it. I didn’t quite like the idea in the first place. Who’ll write? I thought. And time knocked me out my senses. Blog a ton. Now it’s a phenomenon on the Indian blogging platform. When Vipul asked me to participate in the first edition in those seedy gtalk pop up boxes I had no option. Now it’s the largest generator of traffic on my blog. Come blog a ton my page stats zoom up into the sky. The first Saturday of everything is a treat to my hit counter and Google analytics. Blog a ton. The example of great marketing. Vipul has built a global brand locally. As we talk, a blogger from the remote Guinea islands hits the ‘follow’ button. The first two months, blog a ton was just a group of twenty members writing together. Later, the scale got larger and the topics more intense.

In the initial days there used to be simple topic suggestion threads with the topic almost being decided in a matter of a few comments later on the selection process started becoming more vivid with weird ideas pouring in. Time travel, all in a day’s work, what if, topics like this fuel the spark in a writer. Given that there are no restrictions, each post has a different dimension. The more abstract the topic, the more vivid is the thinking. This has given me a rare opportunity to hone my skills in different genres. Sci fi, romance, tragedy, drama, murder, crime, horror, I’ve done them all. The main beauty of Blog a ton lies in the format itself. Indeed blog a ton is a life changing venture for me and I think it’s the same for many other bloggers. If not for BAT, I’ve wouldn’t have met wonderful people like Shilpa Garg (consider her my mentor/editor, a special thanks to her for making my journey in the blogosphere smooth so far!), Neha, Guria, Karthik, Rumya, Tikuli, Vinay, The Fool (an meticulous reader and a better reviewer).

Once the topic is finalized, it’s the time for the mind to set out on a creative rampage. I generally think till the last Friday before the competition and then start writing, a process that every time consumes the deadline to every last minute. I’ve the recognition of being the last submitter of the post for Blog a ton all the time. Well, it’s something I hope to continue too :D Those warm comments, intense criticism, moments of pride, and similar moments of defeat are something that’ll go down the memory lane. My blog got popular, it is only due to Blog a ton. Winning the title once and coming second 6 months later, I something I’m really proud of. My entry for “All in a Day’s work” topic took my blog’s status to higher levels, giving me more freedom to write on bolder topics. Ironically, I’ve won the top slot for an emotional drama and the same genre brought me the second title too. Those who follow my blog closely will know the irony. I’ve noticed the pattern of the winning posts in BAT; they are always emotional posts, written on a deep seated problem or conflict. Well, this is not revealed until the results night, usually the Friday after the D- day. In between there’ll be random suggestions inside the blogger community and some reviews on who is good and who is bad. Good posts are appreciated and are spread like wildfire and the bad ones criticized (not on the blog though, where one can still find comments like cool, good etc)

Once the winner is declared, there’ll be massive traffic bound towards the winner’s blog and therein emerges another super blog. I’ve been seeing this for over a year now, except for one edition I’ve taken part in all the others. It has been a wonderful journey for me, and I guess it has been for the others too. I can’t think of a world without blog a ton, without which our blogs would be the correct examples for draught in the sub Saharan region. I think we all owe one for Vipul, founder in chief, CEO and Marshall of this wonderful concept which is constantly encouraging new talent and has been grooming the old. This idea has endured a year’s journey and no doubt, it’ll survive an eternity. Hail Blog a ton.

Amen.
Pawan Maruvada