How time flies like a flying machine... The world today has become so swift and speedy... Every moment in time looks to have shrink-wrapped, such that events and proceedings motion past us in a blur... everything seems to be in such a fast forward mode, everyone seems to be caught in a frenzy... that we barely have time to stop, reflect and muse...

Yet, even as time continues to become an even more luxurious entity and moments continue to slip by like sand particles in an hour glass, there are some days that always remain special... days that compel you to pause and ponder... days that coerce you to leave everything and embark on a enthralling journey of yore...

21 Nov 2011... was one such day in my diary that I would love to bookmark. It marks the day I had, for the very first time, put pen on the first page of my diary...

Blogging Gift from a blogger friend - A diary
A sweet gift from a sweeter friend, Mohinee...
One of her 3 blogs, Chaitanya Puja, celebrated it's
first blogging anniversary on 24th November!

Today, as I continue to wander in the bylanes of my blogging yatra and stop, just for a few moments to observe the footprints left behind...

...I see many fuzzy images of myself, of days when I was down and low on confidence... When words were hard to come by...

I see... how You had refused to leave me all alone... how You had stood by me and formed my strength... how You had invigorated me with new zeal and enthusiasm by leaving behind your wonderful thoughts for me... how You had completed me... 

I see... How YOU have helped me in filling up this diary...

A hand made virtual cake thanking blog followers
My Yatra Diary... Thanks All of You :)

Thus, I take this opportunity to turn back a few pages, and thank all those who have been with me and for me in this beautiful journey of my blogging life...

My First Readers – Sushma Mallya, Rachana and ...Petty Witter. I remember how I used to eagerly await their comments after publishing each post of mine. They never let a single post go by without their words of encouragement and each time they did I literally jumped with joy! And I still do! I am fortunate to come across them very early in my blogging life for through them I learnt a lot about blogging and commenting conduct and etiquette...

"A Special Thank You for them :)"

The MasterChefs – Aipi, Satya (a great devotee of Krishna, through her I learnt the meaning of the phrase ‘genuine follower’), Ushnish da (a very senior travel blogger too!), Rachana and Sushma too.

A Wonderfully Well Knit Travel Community – Slowly, I became acquainted with a magnificent group of travel bloggers and fell in love with them. Anu (I was in complete awe of her writings from day one!), chitra (my silent inspiration), Santosh BS (a very warm and affable travel blogger), Sridharan (a regular commentator despite being an irregular blogger himself), Team G square (one of the shortest commentators but one among the most meaningful ones), Rajesh Prabhu (despite being so popular, I always saw him as a very humble human being), Srinidhi Hande, Umesh Derebail (has a range of blogs on diverse topics! I always wonder how he handles so many blogs so efficiently), P N Subramanium, Nisha, Arun, Indrani - all of them are different and unique, all inspirational, and admirable, highly supportive of one another, and they all have fabulous blogs... I learnt something new from each of them and continue to do so with each passing day... I feel very very proud to be one amongst them!

Talented Artists – Martina (I don’t remember if ever there was a day when I left her blog without a smile on my face), Lady Fi (One blogger who never fails to leave me speechless), Sylvia (visit her anytime and I am sure to brighten up my day)

Travelling Japan – Snowwhite, sarah, Red Rose, Barb, stardust, cosmos, cocomino - (Though I have never been outside India but somehow I feel I have visited this part of the world, thanks to all of them!)

Meeting other Bloggers who joined in the convoy as the journey kept moving – Ginny (always curious to know more... I thank her and Petty Witter for their questions. Many a times, I have had to consult my elders to find the answers to them and they have been very instrumental in increasing my knowledge too), Karthick S (another of my very early followers who has stuck with this diary for long), Abhishek Bharadwaj, Kavita Saharia, Cloud Nine, sm, Purple Pooch Reign, Sallie (Full Time Life), Angeli (we share the same birth date!), Agnes, Farmchick, Magda, Margaret cloud, Scott, Rizalenio, Mark Weins, Here I am/ Carrie, Draffin Bears, gigihawaii, Mareta Kusumaningram, Nancy @ A Rural Journal, Ms Becky, Rahul Bhatia, Rakesh Kumar, Krishna, Purvi... I don't know how to describe each one of them but all I can say that each of their blogs is simply beautiful!

IndiBlogger – A wonderfully warm, welcoming and a very friendly community… it has been a huge pillar in my making… IT has given me an identity…

Magiceye (Very supportive, never short of encouragement), zephyr (a very senior and respected blogger, I am in seventh heaven whenever I see her name in my blogger dashboard comment section...), Mohinee (one of the sweetest people I have met online, creative and talented, how do I describe her... she is more than a blogger to me), abhi, Hemal Shah, Pramod Lohia, DS, Ranjith, The Xeno, The Sorcerer, Animesh K Mishra, Saru Singhal, Varsha, Richa Kholkute, Leo(Vinay), The Fool, Geeta and Pratibha Singh, Madhumathi, Simran, Ahimaaz Rajesh, Sushma, Sunita Kurup, Sairam Rajamani, Farila, Jayendra Sharan, Indegenou, Deboshree, Sudha Ganpathi, Deepa Gopal Sunil, Harsha, Binu Thomas... there are so so so many... It is ONE BIG Family out there... How many do I name and how? The list is just never ending and I am sure to forget names here... So let me just say the entire community has been too loving and caring for me and a great source of strength in this yatra of mine!

Last but not the least, My Family – Although you sometimes feel you can do it very well all alone, but deep inside you know that you do need them…

My Father (he calls himself a huge fan of this diary… I guess that’s a father’s way of encouraging his beloved daughter), My Mother (not an avid reader of the diary, still never leaves an opportunity to say about it in the town) and finally, My Brother (my biggest motivator and my biggest critic... if not for him, there wouldn’t have been this Yatra Diary...)

Signing off (Final thoughts from a not-a-blessed-writer and a-very-amateur-photographer) -

...2 yrs on, with 136 posts and around 4180 comments, I feel so happy and contended to see the very same diary still filling up pages... And a major credit for that goes to the tremendous love and support I have received from YOU!

My Yatra Diary... Blogger Dashboard overview

Thus, If I witness celebrate this day today by writing this post, it’s only because of You... You have encouraged, supported and contributed to the growth of the diary… You are the reason it has all been possible! I have nothing more to say except a --

BIG THANK YOU!!!

PS: The above list definitely isn’t limited. Please forgive me if I have forgotten to mention you... It is purely unintentional from my side, you know that :)