Your blog, Ghumakkad's blog, turns ten today. Ghumakkad thus enters the double digit with lot of excitement and hope!
How did it start ?
Our set of eight stories on Bhutan, which is so picturesque, was the starting point. From a mere travel blog, Ghumakkad has transformed many folds. And we haven't looked back since then. First three years had only a handful of page views since it was a blog by invitation. Once we made it open, the growth has been overwhelming. See the graph below showing 258,000 page views.
Our Content
Over the years with the support of our readers, we have been able to broaden our content. Telling stories with pictures has been the format. However, the stories are no longer limited to travelogues. Here are few snapshots of our broad spectrum.
- Beating the Covid Gloom: We did more than a dozen stories to bring cheer into our Covid-affected life. We also shared real-life stories of two Covid-survivors of the 1st wave, one each in India and USA. Each story highlighted the power of positivity in those gloomy days. Some of the quick links are given below.
I got a new life - A Corona Survivor's Tale
Take the Virus Head On - Survivor recipe from another Corona Warrior
- Kaun Banega Ghumakkad (KBG): During the Covid-dominated period, KBG online contests have been very engaging and educative. It provided the much needed diversion from gloomy news and charts of Covid. After the first 50 editions of KBG, which posed a question to the readers (to name a plant, tree, insect, fort or a flower), next 23 editions instead asked the readers to give a caption to a picture. The readers creativity in suggesting the captions was overwhelming. Some of the contests which were well contested are An Arch to Captivate You, Lazy Lions, Mutualism by Nature. We will soon be celebrating the 75th edition of KBG.
- Guest Stories: Ghumakkad always encourages the readers to contribute guest stories for our blog. Rohini Tiwari's story 'A Squirrel Comes Home' has been read by more than 600 readers!
- Bird Rescue: Read how few bird lovers in Secunderabad rescued a Black-Winged Stilt injured by the kite thread manjha.
The manjha spares no one. Few years back, we had rescued a fruit bat injured by the manjha. You may browse the story 'Rescuing an Injured Bat'.
- Nature: Nature continues to inspire Ghumakkad. Can a tree or a plant be your valentine? Or birds and animals? Or insects, bees, butterflies and moths? Yes, why not? Stories like Nature as Valentine and deriving Inspiration from a Butterfly were appreciated by scores of readers.
- Saluting the Veterans: Our story '50th Year of 1971 War' which featured Naval children besides the Veterans, showcased the motivation of the younger generation.
- Lesser Known India: Though our physical travel was severely curtailed during last two years due to Covid, we did manage to feature two destinations, one each in Telangana and Rajasthan. Read the story 'Devarakonda- The Fort Which Needs Your Support' which highlights the efforts of local community in restoring a 800-year old fort.
We had featured the Havelis of Khichan Rajasthan in the announcement of Winners of KBG-28. Khichan has some incredibly sculpted Havelis made of red sandstone. Glimpses.
Learning Together: In keeping with Ghumakkad's motto of learning together, we believe in sharing our knowledge and experiences. We had conducted a 'live' case study based on Hindi feature film 'Shershaah' last year. Our story 'Shershaah- Beyond The Movie' evoked keen response form not only MBA students but also the faculty members.
Through the movie, we could bring out lessons on 20 different aspects of OB, HRM and Strategic Management.
Most Read Stories
Taking stock on 10th anniversary of the blog, our most-read story continues to be the tribute to a fellow BITSian who gave his life fighting the terrorists in J&K 25 years ago. We salute Capt Ravi Shankar for the supreme sacrifice. Do browse the story 'An Immortal BITSian', if you haven't read it so far.
For a snapshot of our first eight years as a blog, do browse our story 'Ghumakkad is Eight'.
With the Covid restrictions being lifted, Ghumakkad hopes to resume our travels and bring you more stories. Do share your pictures and stories through our blog.
Chitra Shanker our advisor on plants, trees, insects and birds
We are reminded of an ad for chocolates which said 'Never too old for a chocolate'. Ghumakkad started blogging at sixty. So folks 'never too old to start blogging!'
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