My blog anniversary

From Kishangarh Suite – Hotel Rajputana: Lovely weather here today in Jaipur. This suite is the only one that has a small terrace overlooking the swimming pool. I am enjoying the fresh breeze in the mornings and evenings. It has been one year since I keyed in my first blog. I had never thought I’d be able to write on for a year.

Many of my blogs have had an impact and is being published every Sunday in the Hindustan Times supplement HT City under the column Cityscape.

The blog on Honorary Consul created some ripples and was the talking point at the parties and in the diplomatic circles for many weeks. The blog on Audi prompted the company to agree to replace the car that had malfunctioned with a new one. Something they were initially dragging their feet on. The Cafe Coffee Day centre in Kolkata, though I did not mention the name of the cafe, got a letter from headquarters which was a sign of awareness among some of the Indian companies. The blog on RSVP spurred my office to act on such matters with seriousness and in right earnest. I am no writer, intellectual or a thinker. I just pen down what I see around me. It is something straight from the heart.

In the afternoon I was at the Rajasthan Raj Bhawan to attend the Republic Day ceremony. I was standing with a group of senior authors and journalists. One of the Cabinet Ministers asked me in a lighter note “How come you are with them?” To which, one of the editors of a city newspapers replied that I being a columnist belonged to their fraternity.

This was a new qualifier added to the list of industrialist, philanthropist, social activist, art lover, patron of culture and so on that I am often referred to as. But nobody ever called me a writer earlier.

At the Raj Bhawan, I met many bureaucrats and other acquaintances and friends. It was great that I could say hello to so many people in one function. The Raj Bhawan staff was very warm to me. Rajasthan is still awaiting the appointment of a Governor.

Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, who is holding additional charge of Rajasthan, was at the Chandigarh Raj Bhawan today.

However, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was at the Rajasthan Raj Bhawan and I exchanged pleasantries with him (pictures).

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