Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: SAY NO – DON’T GIVE EXCUSES

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Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: PUNE BLOGGERS MEET


PUNE BLOGGERS MEET
A Report
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Part 1

When you “retire” you have two choices.

You can hang out with your fellow retiree “oldie-goldies” and make your life miserable in the company of pessimistic, gloomy, cynical old-fogies who keep living in the past, carping and complaining about the present, and speculating and worrying about the future.

In short you can succumb to what I call the “Auld Lang Syne” complex. This is guaranteed to make you feel older than your chronological age.

The other choice is to spend your time in the company of lively enthusiastic youngsters who have a zest for life. This is what I prefer to do, for it makes me feel young and cheerful.

That’s why I decided to attend and actively participate in the Pune Bloggers Meet the moment I came to know about it on the IndiBlogger IndiVine.

Chronologically I may have been the oldest participant, but those present will agree with me, that I am quite young at heart, and in enthusiasm and passion, I am as young as, or maybe, even “younger” than many who are half my age.

Though I have been blogging for around 9 years, this was my second Bloggers Meet.

Around 5 years ago (on 16 June 2007) I attended BlogCampPune at SCIT in the InfoTech Park in Hinjewadi. It was a huge sponsored affair and the focus was more on the business opportunities from Blogging, rather than the creative aspects.

Though they called it an “unconference”, the proceedings were quite structured and the event was dominated by the marketing guys and the IT Nerds – the Bloggers hardly had any say. However, Blogging was still in its nascent stage in India, and as a budding blogger, this BLOG CAMP was quite an informative and instructive experience and I wrote a blog post about it the next day:
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/06/blog-camp-pune.htm

Though we got plenty to eat and lots of freebies, it was like attending a trade show or a seminar. I hardly got to personally interact with fellow bloggers and though I was educated about various aspects of blogging, especially from the technical and commercial points of view, there was nothing much for a simple blogger like me who blogged to showcase my creative writing and who wasn’t much interested in the business opportunities from blogging.

In contrast, the Pune Bloggers Meet (on 05 May 2012) which was more of a social get-together of the IndiBlogger Members of Pune, where the focus was on social interaction, fellowship and kinship, and the friendly informal atmosphere facilitated the formation of creative personal relationships between fellow Bloggers from Pune’s Blogging Community.

I am sure you have heard the famous Zen Story EMPTY YOUR CUP.

A university Professor went to visit a famous Zen Master. The Professor wanted to learn about Zen.

The Zen Master served Tea.

While the Zen Master quietly served tea, the Professor talked about Zen.

The Master poured the visitor's cup full to the brim, and then kept on pouring.

The Professor watched the overflowing cup and soon he could no longer restrain himself and so the Professor blurted out to the Zen Master, “Please stop pouring the tea. The cup is overfull. No more tea will go in.”

“You are like this cup, full of your own opinions and beliefs,” the Zen Master said, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

The moral of the story is that even if you are an experienced veteran, you must get rid the “Been There, Done That” mentality and keep your mind open to receiving new ideas. That is why I always “empty my cup” whenever I want to learn something. Though I am quite an experienced blogger I made sure that I emptied my “cup” before I went to the Bloggers Meet and this strategy paid me handsome dividends as it seamlessly enabled me to learn so many new things about blogging.

The Pune Bloggers Meet was scheduled to start at 11 AM on Saturday the 5th of May 2012 at RajLaxmi Sabhagruha, Kothrud, Pune. As per my habit, ingrained during my Navy days, I reached the venue well before time, at 10:45 AM, and was probably the first to reach, but soon Bloggers started trickling in, and in due course soon there was enough quorum start the meet.

In today’s parlance, it was an “awesome” event and the credit for this successful meet must go to the organizer Animesh Mishra and his volunteer colleagues, to IndiBlogger whose IndiBiker Vineet Rajan came all the way from Mumbai to attend, and, of course, to all the Bloggers from Pune who participated.

Well, it is past midnight, I am feeling sleepy now, so I will tell you more about what happened at the meet in Part 2 …

So, Dear Reader: Good Night, Sleep Tight, God Bless.

To be Continued in Part 2 …

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2012
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramkarve@sify.com

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: MARRIAGE - COMFORT LEVEL and MARRIED - LIFE LIKES and DISLIKES

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Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: YOUR BLOG IS YOUR BEST RESUME

Click the link above and read my Musings on CV RESUME and ONLINE PROFILE

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: CONQUEST

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Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: HOUSE HUNTING IN PUNE - 5 TIPS FOR BUYING PROPERTY

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I have also posted the article below for your convenience

A home is where you plan to live with your family. If you are thinking of buying a house for investment, or to earn money by renting out, then maybe some of the things I am going to say may not be entirely applicable.

The second important word is PUNE.

Why Pune? 

Unless you have got a very strong reason to settle down in Pune it is not really worthwhile to buy a home in Pune. Considering the poor infrastructure (terrible roads, traffic chaos, poor public transport and connectivity, frequent disruptions of electricity and load-shedding, water shortages, et al) and the unexceptional quality of life, the exorbitant property prices in Pune are not justified at all. 

Yes, you will not get value for your money in Pune as you may in some other place. 

Remember, Pune is no longer the charming town it used to be – I think the city has reached saturation point and is almost bursting at its seams and the infrastructure is simply not able to cope up with the burgeoning population and proliferating concrete jungle. 

The third key word is NOW.

Hold your horses. Be patient. Wait for real estate prices to correct and stabilize. Like I said I am a novice, but some of my “knowledgeable” friends say that a recession is round the corner and real estate prices in Pune are going to fall.

TIP No. 1 – ONE LOOK IS WORTH A THOUSAND REPORTS

A few years ago we attended a slick presentation by the sales team of a reputed builder trying convince a gullible young group of upwardly mobile persons to book an apartment in an upcoming project in Pune. 

“It’s just a five minute drive to the Railway Station,” they said. 

Today, a guy who bought an apartment there, considers himself lucky if he can reach the railway station in less than an hour negotiating the heavy chaotic traffic of Pune and with the delays at traffic jams at numerous traffic signals enroute. (Yes, the railway station is precisely 8 kilometers away, but is it possible to drive at an average  speed of 96 kmph to cover 8 Kms in 5 minutes? This may be possible on the expressway but certainly not in Pune City where you can barely get an average speed of 10 kmph). 

“Beautiful green open spaces surround the project,” they said. 

My friend finds himself in the midst of a concrete jungle, surrounded by a crowd of tall buildings which ensure the sun hardly ever reaches his first floor home. There is noise pollution and air pollution from the road below. Tell me, who is going to leave open spaces open anymore? If you find an open space be sure that a building will come up there or worse still a slum my proliferate rapidly covering all the left over open spaces. 

This example brings me to Tip No. 1 - One Look Is Worth A Thousand Reports.

There is an ancient saying:

Don’t Marry a Girl Without Seeing the Girl

and 

Don’t Buy Land (House) Without Seeing the Land (House).

Well this applies to all types of property and real estate, whether it is land, a bungalow, a row house or an apartment. You must visit the site and see the property for yourself. Also you must ensure that what you see is what you get and for this it is always better to buy a home in a project that is ready, otherwise you may in for a big surprise.                

In Pune the most important aspect to consider is location. Commuting is a nightmare in Pune and things are only going to get worse. One cannot see any urgent efforts at improving the road network, and in the absence of efficient public transport, vehicles are rapidly proliferating and the traffic scene is going to get even more chaotic every passing day.

In peak hours there are continuous traffic jams and it sometimes takes me more time for me get to Koregaon Park (25 kms) from my home in Wakad than it takes me to get to Belapur in Navi Mumbai more than 100 kms away by the expressway. Petrol prices are rising day by day too.

So make sure your home is near your workplace, your wife’s office, your children’s’ schools and all the other places you are likely to frequent. 

Tip No. 2 - SKIP THE FRILLS 

Remember it is you who are going to pay for all those fancy things in the project – and it is a maintenance headache too. Do you really require all those fancy high-tech “intelligent home” gadgets which will be rendered useless by the frequent electric power failures which prevail in Pune? The only things I find useful are generator back-up and a good gym for exercise. 

Tip No. 3 - MAKE SURE WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET 

Always buy a ready possession house. Choose your particular flat where you intend to live in, and do not make a decision by just seeing a sample flat. As I brought out earlier, things will look vastly different before and after construction. A friend who booked a house before construction started in a pre-launch offer (impressed by the open fields surrounding the project) now finds himself staring into the balcony of the neighbouring building which has sprung up. Also, why take a risk in the prevailing scenario where a project execution may be inordinately delayed or at worst may never see the light of day? 

Tip No. 4 – BEWARE OF THE WORD “ANNEXE” 

In the English Language, the word Annexe means Extension. 

In Real Estate parlance the word Annexe may have different connotations, especially in Pune. 

Thus “Aundh Annexe” may be nowhere near Aundh, but in the back of beyond across the river.

Kondhwa Annexe may be somewhere way off in Undri or Mohammadwadi, Koregaon Park Annexe may be way beyong Ghorpuri or Mundhwa and Wakad Annexe may be many kilometres away from Wakad in some out-of-the-way place. 

You've got the drift haven’t you – they just cash in on the name of the nearest upcoming or posh locality to hype their project. 

Tip No. 5 – TRY BEFORE YOU BUY (Have a DRY RUN) 

In fact the best thing to do is to have a Dry Run. Take a house on rent in the locality (or better still in the building complex) in which you intend to buy your home and you will experience first hand the pros and cons of living there, especially the social infrastructure. 

Like I said, don’t get carried away by all that “created” hype. Be patient. Look around. Try out some more localities or ask your friends living there. Rest assured that you will get a good deal. Everything comes to him who waits. 

Bye for now. I will share some more lessons I learnt as a novice first time home buyer right here in my blog. 

Till then tell me if you found my tips useful and remember the ancient saying:

Don’t Marry a Girl Without Seeing the Girl and Don’t Buy a House Without Seeing the House.

Happy House Hunting…!!!