Celebrating One Year Of OUR Connect -‘Dil Say Dil Tak’

Author Rekha Gupta

Today is a big day for me! I complete one year of blogging. And this for me, my friends is no small feat. Not because I am a writer or I have become popular. It is a feat because I covered this journey with ALL OF YOU. The journey that I embarked on was not mine alone. All of you had the biggest role to play in it. And today when I revisit this journey, I want to do it again with all of you , simply thank each one of you in gratitude for reading , appreciating and constantly motivating me to write more.

My passion for writing started about two decades ago as a hobby to pen down my thoughts, as an outlet to express emotions and then as the most constructive channel to jot down life felt experiences . And guess what- all of this would go in – in the left over extra note books of my children.😛 😁

Ever since writing for me has always been a very interesting and powerful medium of expression. Not only does it keep my perspective in check , but is therapeutic and a catharsis of sorts – all in all , it is soul enriching .C@Rg

Needless to say this journey of writing was kickstarted by the unwavering support of my husband and my children as they appreciated my writings and I thought to myself really, that it is their love for me that makes them so appreciative of whatever I do . Their appreciation eventually did drive me to test my hidden skills .

Some of my closest friends read an article or two, of mine and then a few others read short couplets from an article , still a few more would gush over my simple but long birthday messages. They said that the positive approach in my writings could influence / change peoples perspective . Thanks especially to Monica Vats who complimented me and suggested to me that I write a blog. My children caught on to the suggestion as if they were just waiting for it to be verbalised by one person , and thus envisaged the idea of ”sharing my writings ” as blog .

I thought of the objective of converting my writings from a diary into a blog and realised that some people may enjoy them as a fun positive read, some others will relate to the writings, while some may benefit in some small way but most of them would most certainly connect to the posts as they are real and straight from the heart and perhaps connect to some aspect of their life in some way or the other.C@Rg

And thats how a joyous & simple hobby was turned into passionate blogging by me . Without my knowledge, our daughter secretly began designing the website. And one day showed me the ready blog, saying its ready to ‘GO LIVE’ mama with your one click. The pressure suddenly hit and built at the same time. However there was still the humongous task of name searching – a name that would convey to people what the blog is about, a catchy name, not so long name, etc etc . The merry- go- round for name hunting just began . And it so happened whatever ‘name’ we thought of was already taken up on Google and when we were exhausted and literally thought of it to go ”nameless’ ( joking ) , suddenly our daughter said ”your name is going to be your blogs name too”, the sound of it and the feel was very nice ”blogitwithrekha” so it was frozen on instantly. The blogs beauty was further enhanced by our little one who designed a professional beautiful logo for it .

Then guess what? A Laptop came along, just like that , swoosh into my life. I was numb at the sight of the lap top as far from being a tech savy person , I actually run at the sight of big wig gadgets. I was very comfy with just the basics on my Phone & I Pad , perhaps as my need always was only of that much. Now here on my laps was my laptop and I actually thought” Rekha what are you getting into?These thoughts soon gave way to…. ”Rekha as always , you will do it’’, . From learning how to operate the laptop to practicing on the website template was all a little daunting. One wrong click and something would go wrong and I would spend half hour just trying to figure out , what went wrong! Well in the next three days I wrote the first 3 posts to be posted , such was the level of excitement that seems to have taken over all other feelings of overwhelmedness. C@Rg

On 21^st  March 2020 at 5.30 pm when it went live, that is when my first three posts were published and what we all felt within, is inexplicable ! Yet if it were to be described in few words then, I was like that nervous batsman, to be on the pitch for the first time with all eyes upon me ,ready to face the first ball . I didn’t know what the future held in store but as always was positive that whatever the outcome , the satisfaction that I tried at all, was more than sufficient . More importantly all our lives we tell our children to always try and try without fearing the outcome. Now was the time for me to set a right precedent.

So yes my kickstart was awesome, but the journey, that I was partially nervous, partly skeptical , was equally enthralling and the entire credit goes to all of you. My family , extended family , Pec family , Society family , friends and all well wishers who cheered me with their unwavering belief , pampered & encouraged me indefatigably and i kept growing from strength to strength and finally accomplished one year of penning my thoughts and emotions in 44 blogs in a year.C@Rg

All my articles will always be close to my heart but still If I were to choose then there are 2 that are closest to my heart.The first one is the one I wrote on my Daddy‘s♥️ life journey ”A Special journey that Illuminated Thousands of Lives”. Not only was this blog hugely emotional but it was also like time-travel d back to those times with my Daddy Mummy . The second blog thats closest to my heart is on my country Bharat ♥️ ”A GLIMPSE INTO THE MOST ADVANCED CIVILIZATION’‘. The emotional comments on both the posts said it all .

My toughest ones were the 4 chapters on Spirituality as there is this unseen pressure to keep them concise yet be explicit & elevated. Also Sprituality as a subject is relative and subjective in a lot of senses. But nonetheless I was truly happy penning down thoughts on this subject :1-Aatma Parmatma , 2-Am I Body OR Soul? , 3- Your Thoughts, Create your Destiny , 4 Karma Never loses an address.

And here I am now , connecting with all through my posts and this ”NOW adorable laptop”. I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that something as simple as writing my thoughts , observations , vivid behavioural changes and experiences could connect me to our family , extended families on a different level altogether , and such a pleasant & memorable one at that ! Forgive me for my childlike excitement, but read on…….Many a times at social get togethers , I have seen seemingly harmless living room conversations become conflicting as each one expects all others to conform to one’s beliefs & opinion be it religious , cultural or political ideologies . Many a times even though I wanted to put forth my perspective , I more often than not would shy away for some reason or the other.Knowing that you are being heard but not understood is a sheer waste of time and energy so I simply chose to remain silent and also because honestly no one likes a simple exchange of thoughts to turn unpleasant and for me people are more important than to establish my opinion strongly on any subject. Therefore my writings were not only the correct channel for sharing my views, it seems it also came as a surprise to many people known to me . All of a sudden they have started taking me seriously too,. Ha! So there is that too , but all happy and different reactions.

Our family of 250 school and PEC college friends , our friends made over the years together , our society family of 600 families, many acquaintances and tens of hundreds of more different unknown people of all age groups, from all walks of life have responded so beautifully to my blogs that I cant stop gushing and feel ever in gratitude. It does amaze me though how a single post can touch the SAME CHORD in different people with different background , different education, different perspective with varied interests , each one certainly a distinguished personality in ones chosen field and from all over the globe with different nationalities,! Thats the the power of reading, I feel, IT CONNECTS, not divides. People instantly absorb things relatable then identify causes for conflict. Suddenly there is just a silent exchange of thoughts? Via your comments you too share a little of yourself , your feelings expressed, which often leaves me wondering if so and so is a student or working ,…? Maybe …..I feel it so …..For me this is is nothing less than an affirmation : a post from my heart , touched yours & everyones heart alike , its a”DIL SAY♥️, DIL TAK♥️” connect.

Then after publishing a post, to go through ‘’how many views”, then the Comments” that leave me emotional and overwhelmed  each time. This euphoria is truly mesmerising for me!

I would like to add in a light vein though, that along with the plaudits I was expecting criticism too, and that came a tad late after the 40th blog. And believe me, instead of dampening my spirits, I somehow felt more elated and motivated. So a special mention and thanks to my critiques as well.

My Sincere Thanks to all of you for being instrumental in the growth of my writing. Each and every one of you is equally special to me for having read my posts. Some always walk an extra mile to write a comment which motivates and encourages me to be better each time.In these times of digitilization ,when most of us enjoy watching rather than reading , I appreciate so much you all for reading diligently my articles. Somewhere blogging gives me the satisfaction that writing and reading as an art will not die anytime soon. By nature Im a very emotional person and appreciate appreciation. So for me that each – like and comment is like an AWARD that I shall cherish for life. The adulation and appreciation leaves me humbled , overwhelmed , emotional thus leaving  me many a times short of words. Now I know why people at award functions get all emotional. I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH. C@Rg

Some of the appreciative /encouraging/all time motivating comments I got over the last year and that literally kept me going…want to share with you ❤️

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Please find below links to two of my personal favourites.

https://blogitwithrekha.com/2021/01/24/a-glimpse-into-teh-most-advanced-civilisation/
https://blogitwithrekha.com/2020/09/23/a-special-journey-that-illuminated-thousands-of-lives/

So friends again, Dil Say” a very big thank you to each one of you. Wishing all of you , all the happiness and health today and always.

Rekha Gupta

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