Sunday, March 30, 2014

Getting Ready for A-Z April Challenge 2014

So its just 1 day away ... i.e. 1st April and official start of April A-Z Challenge 2014. I have two blogs listed for this challenge.

1. https://vikaskhair.blogspot.com (Story Teller)
2. http://cameramythirdeye.blogspot.com (My Third Eye)

First one is my blog for short stories and other one is my photography blog. Hope to be able to complete the challenge at least for one blog. Last time I tried to post at least one thing daily my internet went away for 18 days hopefully this time would be different.

What I want to achieve by this challenge is to be regular with my blogging and even more spontaneous so that  I am able to improve as a story teller and as occasional writer. My aim is simple at least for the story blog, I will be writing a short story for each day. Photography would be a little tricky so I would be relying quite a bit on my photo bank too.

So all the best to fellow A-Zers and may you all finish the challenge.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Milestones

Another Indirank refresh and again some milestones thanks indiblogger.in for this. Quite few of my blogs are ranked in top 20 blogs in Bhopal now. Actually its 4 of my blogs in Top-20 blogs in Bhopal across all genres.

Not only this but I also had happiness on national level too to as Genre specifically my blog is ranked wonderfully too.

here goes ... 

If we search indiblogger for blogs under 'Fiction' genre then my blog Story Teller is ranked 51 in 681 blogs all across India.

Fiction Ranking in India

Now if we search for 'Stories' genre then my blog Story Teller is ranked 50 in 1129 blogs all across India.

Stories Ranking in India
Now the interesting and wonderful things of all the blogs in Bhopal my blog 'Story Teller' is ranked no. 10.

Rank 10 for Story Teller
Now out of blogs in 11-20 range I have three blogs which make it 4 blogs in Top-20 blogs in Bhopal, India. The blogs are

No. 13 - My Third Eye (My Photography Blog)

No. 15 - The Sixth Sense
Rank 13 and 15
And last but not the least I have my photography blog on wordpress on No. 19. 

No. 19 - Vikas Khair Photography

Rank 19 for Vikas Khair Photography
I am making a conscious effort to be more regular with my blogging and IndiRank results show that. When you see the results of your work so quickly then it encourages you to go further and do much more.
I Congrat all the top rankers in Bhopal and everywhere in India and hope that everyone would keep on blogging and keep the scene alive.

Take Care and keep on blogging.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Malaysia Magic

I am participating in the MalaysiaJao Blogathon Contest in association with BlogAdda.com.


I have been provided an awesome opportunity to visit Malaysia by blogadda.com and nothing can stop me from entering the contest.

If I only get to visit 5 places in awesome Malaysia then these would be my choices after all I am a die hard nature lover and love to visit all the different kinds of places.

1. First and Foremost I would love to visit Petronas Towers in the Capital city of Kuala Lumpur as we would be landing in the city and also its a modern architectural  wonder and no one can afford to miss it. And the night view of the building is simply breath taking.

Petronas Twin Towers - Photo Credit http://www.tourism.gov.my/
2. Second place on visit on my radar would be Lego-land Malaysia theme park, its the first of its kind in Asia, and is situated in Nusajaya, Johor. Now when something is unique in an entire continent and you gotta have to visit it. I guarantee that no grown up would be able to resist turning into a kid up on visiting this miniature blocky wonderland.


Lego-land Building - Photo Credit http://www.tourism.gov.my
3. Next I would like to have some beach fun at Batu Ferringhi Beach in Penang district. It's time for some adventure as I would run along the vast beaches and enjoy the pure water of the sea. And how could I leave the chance to laze around the sands of the beach.


Clean and Super Beaches - Photo Credit http://www.tourism.gov.my/
4. Now it would be nature time and to enjoy the company of some wonderful birds and animals at Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak state. In Mulu, there is so much to explore that I am not sure one can complete everything in a single day. Here we can  find one of the worlds biggest cave passage, Deer Cave. The massive caves here are home to millions of bats and cave swiftlets that swarm out into the jungle in great clouds every evening at dusk! 

Birds swarming the evening sky - photo credit http://www.tourism.gov.my/

Jungle Bridge @ Gunung Mulu National Park Photo Credit http://www.tourism.gov.my/
5. My final pick would be water villages of Kampung Bebuloh and Kampung Patau-Patau in Labuan. These villages are largely populated by fishermen and their houses are built right on the edge of the waterway and tourist are allowed to visit the villages to observe the unique life style of these villagers. Every house has a boat which they use to move around. This is also an experience which you can not miss.

Fisherman in action - water village - http://www.tourism.gov.my/

Actually if you ask me then picking 5 places to visit in Malaysia is very daunting task due to multiple wonderful places in each state. If allowed then I would like to spends months in Malaysia exploring all the wonderful states and their attractions. Malaysia is truly magical.


This post has been written for contest organized by Blogadda.com and Malaysia Tourism

Friday, March 14, 2014

The Dream Library

As a reader I like nothing more than to read and to buy books and magazines. I just love the sight of my books placed neatly in their book cases waiting to be read or re-read. This week's Indi-spire topic allowed me to turn my mind up to 11 to dream up my perfect library.

I just love the smell of books be it new or old. But along with the physical books I also love the    e-books for the convenience they provide. I would ensure that both the areas are equally catered. I am pretty possessive about my books but that would not be the case with my library as people would be welcomed to enjoy the works of masters.

I would have rows and rows of book cases which would have all the books I could find and then some more. Books would be arranged by authors. The building itself would be at least 10 stories high. I have learned one thing after buying so many books and reading them that there are far more books than I can hope to read in my lifetime. But I would still love to have all the books I could manage to have. If only to preserve them.

On each floor there would be multiple reading nooks, reading spots by the window with the wonderful view outside the windows as many windows would have a different view set for them. Meaning I would have different style of garden set outside of window so that I or the reader could enjoy the view while reading. There would also be different type e-readers available on multiple locations on all the floors so that people can read.

There would be tablets and computers available on all the floors so assist people and me to search for the book I want and also to go online.

Now coming to the building, my library's every floor would be decorated differently. Each floor would have enough natural light to ensure that I am able to look for the books and read them without using too much electricity.

I could go on and on about my dream library but let's keep it short and stop my thoughts here itself. See you all in my library when the dream becomes a reality.

This post was written for Indi-Spire initiative by indiblogger.in

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Yay Milestone

I am not yet sure of it but this entry makes it my 5th entry today across 3 different blogs. This is a milestone because 4 of these posts are written. Yay .. I have posted more than 5 posts in a day but those were photos never before did I write 4 different posts in one day or rather in One and a half hour.

So here's the breakdown

1. Written part 5 of 'Paths to Death' series on my Short Story blog Story Teller
2. Posted two pics to a Bat on my photography blog.
3. Written a post as part of a contest by Racold, this is important because I had never written a post for a contest so soon #WhatsThatSmellBoss.
4. One personal post.
5. This post :)

So Enjoy and keep on reading .. 

Smelly Encounters

This post has been written for the contest organized by Racold and Indiblogger.in




As soon as i saw this contest, my mind took me back among 400 students all sitting in a single room studying for PET (Pre Engineering Test) or IIT.

You can very well imagine the situation where in you pack 400 kids together in a room at 6 AM in the mornings.

Seating for Boys and Girls were obviously separate and how fatal was that for me.

One fine sleepy morning I found myself sitting in the class trying to focus on the topic been taught between the bouts of sleep.

And then I had that Smelly Encounter which scarred me for life and I found myself gagging due that reeking body odour and I uttered "What's that Smell, Boss?"  

Everyone looked towards me and I looked towards the floor willing to go through it.

Well after few minutes the class continued but my nose was gone for the week. I had no choice then to lean forward a bit and whisper in the ear of the smelly guy in front of me.

"Boss, try to bath once in a while. I hear there are some very good water heaters available in the market." I then I fell silent trying to kill the smell in my mind.

But that particular day was ruined to the core.

It was that day 16 years ago and its now and I still sniff around the room if I am gonna sit among lot of people after all some 'Smelly Encounters' are very hard to forget.


This post has been written for the contest organized by Racold and Indiblogger.in

Just Another Day

So I haven't been posting anything personal on my personal blog .. irony. Do you know that I try to manage some 8 blogs and out of all those blogs this is the blog which has won me not one but two prizes. First I got a lovely 8 GB pen drive and wait for it .... A trip to Thailand .. yes my first win and that too all the way to 2nd Prize ... Now waiting to finalize the date for my maiden foreign trip.

So Life is swell..

I am swelling too or rather bloating or rather just expanding. Have to start cricket regularly soon enough if I want to be mobile. I can join the Gym too but my shift timings take care of those activities coupled with my laziness.

I know these are all excuses to cover for my laziness but have to do something before my body become too stiff to move.

But lighten up its not like I am 300 Kg heavy no sir not at all I am well below 100 I think :P the problem is that the weight coupled with lifestyle means that I have little to no stamina or flexibility which should be necessary to feel healthier.

I want to feel that way, may be I will start the morning walks again at least i would be mobile for few Kilometers at least.

Well enough ranting enough self loathing but not quite, I am happy, its just a little introspection, because its always good to consider your weaknesses and work on those.

So till the next time ... Enjoy.