Made in India, Banned in China

I woke up early to wish my sister on her birthday. The day also brought about one of those days when I’m early to office. Well, on time actually. The Wednesday started early, and there were few mails that caught my interest; except the one from a colleague from the China office.  The Chinese Had visited India a few days ago and I had actually managed to get close enough to be able to ask them to open my blog after they got back to China. I had always wanted page views from China. Ever since the rise of India and China cliché, I had my eyes set on China and well, getting Chinese eyes on my blog was also important.

Hi H,

Bad news for you, your blog is also banned in China. :(

Regards,

SY

  The first reaction was fear. Have I don’t something wrong? Have I written something bad? Am I in trouble? I was scared. But I hadn’t written anything about China at all. In the Anty Life post, I remember saying “But isn’t China doing good?” and that was the only time I had ever used the word! Why would you ban me? I recently wrote a post onPakistan, but that was also promoting Peace. Maybe the Chinese don’t want India and Pakistan to be in peace :P Thinking more, I remembered the Rich andResponsible Posts, where I had again mentioned China, but it was a post against America, or rather against Obama, did the Chinese like Obama? Everyone knows China has a lot of Forex and export business with USA, so maybe they don’t want their people to see me talk bad about USA. 

 

After the first few minutes of fear passed, I felt happy and even started to feel a little proud. I had caught the eyes of the Chinese after all. My posts got to China! Wow that sounds so awesome! I’m actually a banned author! People would use proxy servers! search for me on Google and Twitter! And wait for me to make posts on other underground sites and blogs! I’m a banned author! So exhilarating! 

Then I suddenly remembered there was no twitter in China! SY and AC had told us a little about China, there was no facebook, no twitter, no self-owned homes and no one cared if your house came in between a road widening project. It goes down! It takes a hundred years to take down a stray temple in the center of the road in India, leave alone houses! Why temple? even a cud chewing cow is stronger than a honking Million Rupee SUV!

‘Do you have strikes in China?’ I asked AC over some tea on their last day in India. 

He said, ‘oh no no!’

‘There are never strikes in China. You can do Strike if you want, but you will be thrown in prison, maybe forever.’

The four of us had a hearty laugh, but fell silent. All of us thinking why we laughed. 

This memory of banning, censoring and silencing came back when I was told I was banned in China. So like any other smart person, I Googled:

Why is my blog banned in China?

There were many results and a link to Wikipedia read, list of sites blocked in China. I hit it and saw some really good sites, facebook, twitter, youtube, Pikasa were all blocked in China! The number 13 on the list shot down my snout and showed me why my Blog is banned. It’s not me… it’s the whole of Blogspot!

Fashionataion

Hey why don’t you post it on your blog too? I’ll give you a free shirt :P thats the reason for this post :D

A friend of mine just joined hands with one of his friends from his days in the UK to deal in fashion. I didn’t really understand what they meant to do but I had a feeling that they were gonna make an online clothing store and sell cloths. As simple as that. But as it turns out, its not that simple. 

I found out about the real deal of craziness… or lets say freakological obsession with fashion and sense of style was clearly pointing to the fact that they had their heads working on doing something bigger.  My friend asked me to write an seo article that could help route traffic towards their site. It  wasn’t  really that hard, but this was only my second article on fashion. The first one was on nail art! :P

Anyway so as I went on writing I did realize that some of the things I said in the write were actually true! :O I know! That never happens in advertisement articles right? At least not mine! :P So I went ahead and looked at the site.. they really did have designers live on the site.. and I just wondered for a sec if I could get someone to stitch me something that’s exactly my size! :D ok im not that bothered about cloths.. cuz I kinda believed that it’s the ‘who’ more important than the ‘what’ or maybe I said it cuz I just couldn’t find fitting cloths :P (just in case your thinking I’m fat.. im not :P)

Ok so heres the article I wrote for him... I’m posting it here cuz hes my bud and well… yeah also for the free shirt :P 

Fashionation is not a real word, at least not yet. It’s a made up word for fashion and fascination. Fashion in a bird’s eye view can mean a way of life where everything you do or wear intrigues and makes a statement. The general perception of fashion is looking good or using something that can make you look good. A fashionable phone or a fashionable article of clothing is generally perceived to be a good looking merchandise that brings you appreciation. Sadly, that’s probably the worst way of defining fashion. 

 

 As I’m writing this article in the wake of a new online clothing store that I saw over the weekend, let’s stick to cloths as fashion. Clothing is probably the biggest way of looking fashionable, and over centuries, people have been expressing themselves by creating and wearing different kinds of cloths. This idea of expression of feelings, thoughts and ideas through dressing cracked open a whole new world of designers and trend makers across the globe. Today as we make way for a world of freedom and expression, we see more and more people taking up this creative way of expressing and adding the much required glamour and valor to the cause.

The biggest dread of all fashion enthusiasts is keeping up with fashion. Being aware of where to find what and when to do what is another major road bump. Just the other day, my friend visiting Bangalore for the first time asked me ‘who’s cloths are hot in Bangalore this winter?’ I fell face first at that. I had no idea of the designers in Bangalore, I always bought from sites or stores that had decent looking cloths. I Looked up a few regular sites online, but couldn’t find anything that tells me who’s selling what. That’s when I stumbled upon www.mydesignersales.com

 

mydesignersales is the online store of a Bangalore based Clothing and Fashion Corporation called United Fashion Mart. The firm itself deals in the manufacture and sales of apparels and accessories with zeal for spreading awareness and tasteful sense of fashion across masses. mydesignersales being the online store makes access to fashion more reachable and affordable to all.  Plus Being in Bangalore, it’s only a matter of time before there are free reigning fashion stylists running amok on the streets!

mydesignersales takes a whole new approach to selling cloths online. It’s like an online version of a boutique where you can get to personally see, meet and socialize with your designers online. mydesignersales has a list of the top selling fashion stylists from different cities across India, or maybe even the world. Going to Delhi for a week? Buy the top selling designs of Delhi in Bangalore and blend in to the Delhi crowd! Try! Designers like Julie Kagti, Anu Nagappa and Arjun Agarwal are some of the top selling labels on mydesignersales. 

Apart from giving you the advantage of meeting your designer, if you’re really really nice and of course ready to pay a little, you can even place requests and get your own designs loaded onto the website! That’s definitely got to be a first! mydesignersales clearly has a lot of new things to offer. In the end, making people express themselves and reflect their personalities using the powers of fashion is what these FashionFreaks aim at. That’s why they say, each time you visit mydesignersales, you’re assured of fashionation! ;)

That was it! Buy clothes from my frn y’all :D 

Oh btw.. if you think Im good at seo then.. you can mail me.. I write for free shirts all the time :P

Write Winged

Generally I start my Guest posts by talking a little about the guest author or just start off by writing something that would suit the mood, but here I dont think anything is required. Her write has such a beautiful flow that you just cant stop reading... so without boring you anymore... read....

 

I’m one of the aunts Sriharsha keeps speaking of in his blog (although you won’t know which one because there are five of us – at least, not unless he specifies it). Well, to put it more specifically, it’s the aunt whose kid’s article in “The Hindu” Harsha put up last week on the blog.

When Harsha asked if I would write something for his blog, I did not exactly jump at the offer because he caught me in a sort-of burnout from all the writing (non-stop almost) done over the past two years. But, agree I did, out of a sense of kinship – I could identify with the need to take a break from writing, and besides, how could I say no to my own nephew when I wrote for people I didn’t even know!!

Just for background – I’m presently a full-time Asst. Professor at a private college in Bangalore, and a freelance writer for online and print media.

How Writing Changed Me

I read this statement once that the more things change, the more they remain the same. It sounded strange and flawed at first glance and it set me thinking of things to refute this logic. I didn’t have to look too far because my own experience proved how a single step can be the gateway to a sea of change. A simple email I sent on a whim to a content writing firm in July 2010 turned out to be my induction into an entire new world – one filled with sitting non-stop at a newly-acquired laptop, learning to navigate through keyword specifications, subtitle and bulleted list requirements, avoiding run-on sentences, steering clear of plagiarism, ensuring what I write doesn’t put people to sleep etc etc etc.

My perspective widened

As I began researching and writing, every single topic I worked on helped to contribute to my knowledge. Being an avid reader, I enjoyed the process of finding information on topics that I would never otherwise have a reason to read about. Whether it was about starting a flower basket business, managing diabetes and hypertension, or dealing with a differently-abled child, choosing the right television antenna or retirement home, or becoming a basketball coach or taking up TOEFL and SAT, every article I wrote gave me information that helped me obtain an entirely new perspective.

I manage time better

In the beginning stages, it often took me around two hours to complete a 500-word article with more time being spent on researching than on the actual writing. Gradually, I learnt to manage time better by focusing first on information needed for the article. Simultaneously, I also maintained a list of the websites that had interesting information and visited those at leisure for my personal reading. Besides, it came to my notice that completing the assignment became simple if I began with the easy part and then went on to tackle the part that appeared difficult. As I grew adept at using this system, the time required for the 500-word, good quality article came down to about one hour and currently hovers to between 35 to 45 minutes.

Empathy increased

With time, I noticed that all my articles which garnered praise were the ones that had a basic simplicity to them – they were the ones that spoke directly and honestly to the reader. This taught me how important it is for a writer to be able to identify with the needs of the audience. Ever since, I make it a point to read my own writing from the viewpoint of the intended reader, making corrections every time I find that fancy words detract from the meaning of what I’m trying to convey. I’ve found that this has also helped me in the classroom – I’m now more sensitive to the requirements of my students and tailor my teaching to ensure they receive relevant information in an engaging format.

Taking criticism is now easier

There is one thing that is more unpleasant than writing on a difficult topic – rewriting it. Not only do you have to start from a new angle, you are also burdened with the emotional baggage that is often a result of a hurt ego. Writing has taught me to face criticism with equanimity. As I continue writing, I have developed the ability to face up honestly to my mistakes. More importantly, it has taught me to take the occasional unduly harsh comment in my stride without letting it bruise my self-confidence.

However, as I continue mulling it over, perhaps the person who made that statement (a quick search on Google shows it’s part of a song by Bon Jovi) is not entirely wrong. After all, I was writing something unique at every point of time – whether it was the answers that my classmates copied in their homework books, the meticulous notes in college that friends swore by or the articles I now write.  Besides, there is one thing that has still remained the same – the joy and thrill that I experience every time I sit down to write.

Whew!! That’s quite a lot I’ve written, and I hope you managed to make your way through without losing interest…I’d love to hear what you think…..so do write in with comments.

~Anu