Ghumakkar Editorial Monthly Digest – August 2013

A very good morning to all my dear readers!

Has the falling rupee and the raising prices given you all some food for thought? Have your begun to make some secure future plans? Has it in anyway made you cut down on your travel? Well, cut down on anything but travel. Travel is good during good and bad times :) How have you all been spending time amidst all the these economic fluctuations? Share your experience with us. We love to hear from you!

For me, the whole experience of composing this edition of the monthly digest has been a different one. It all happened as I conversed with Sun! Yes, the SUN! Read on as I unveil the tale.

It was early in the morning when I began collating data for the digest and there HE came, emerging out of the mild, blue sky! HIS rays were fresh, new and welcoming. I sat by the window, sipped my daily dose of caffeine, greeted him a Good Morning and began my work. The month of August showed nothing less exciting @ Ghumakkar! The newness, the aroma and the flavor that our new authors’ posts had, immediately lifted my mood a level up. I wanted to share my joy with someone immediately. And there I saw HIM by the window and decided HE is the guy I am going to talk to about it.
Before I continue about my rendezvous with HIM, let me stop a bit and introduce our new authors to you . Am sure you all are eagerly waiting to know who brought that joy to me!

Aparajita Barai, Naturebuff, Ramakant, Snig Bhaumik are the budding, new authors this month.

A Graphic Designer who studied in NID (Ahmedabad) and University of Westminster (London) and now working with Dorling Kindersley as an Art Editor is a one-liner intro about Aparajita Barai. She further explains that she loves traveling, exploring new places, meeting new people and doing new things to extend her journey from the known to the unknown. She marked her entry to Ghumakkar with her grand post “My love-letter to Prague! “. Welcome Aparajita to Ghumakkar pariwar! Read more about her by clicking here.

Next in line for introduction is Naturebuff. An avid nature lover and a very keen birdwatcher is how he introduces himself. He says, travel is a passion with his family and that they try and indulge as often as they can! Well, isn’t that a great thing to do? His debut post “Summer Road Trip – National Chambal Sanctuary, Morena” came out live on the very first day of this month and yes, even to this day adds many readers to its credit! Great start Naturebuff! We extend a warm welcome to you too!

An MBA graduate, currently working for a trading firm and lives in Kalyan (near Mumbai). This is our next new author Ramakant. He loves to travel to religious places and to share his experiences with other devotees. He already has 2 posts to his credit! His debut post ” Shree Gajanan Maharaj – Shegaon” was received well. Welcome Ramakant, we would love to see more posts from you!

Last but not the least is Snig Bhaumik. He proudly says that he is an IT professional for his colleagues but a travel buff at heart. For him, travel is not to escape Life, travel is necessary so that Life does not escape us. He is a nature lover, and tries to visit all those places which are still blessed by the Mother Nature. Great going Snig Bhaumik. This surely is an advantage for us, since it promises more stories from you!

A warm welcome to you dear newbies! Now, you four too can jump in as I take you through my experience.

Soon after listing the new author names, I looked at HIM again. This time with pride and began my conversation. I had decided to play with him for a while. So, I said ” You needn’t have to be so proud of your glory as he wasn’t the only bright star! We do have many shiny bright ones in our community!” HE sniffed , grew instantaneously jealous and HIS rays began to get warmer and more penetrating. I giggled and told him that there was more to come. More names that I would list down now. Names of those people who have been with Ghumakkar for long, like HIM in the sky, shining everyday and never losing their glamor and vigor. His jaw dropped and with awe, he said “ Who are they? I am keen to know!” . I did not wait even for a second and exclaimed “Alright, sit back and listen as I brief you about them.”

Featured Author of the Month of August’13, Featured Author of the Month of September’13 and the author whose story is this month’s Featured Story – These are some names I proudly announced. Wait a minute.. Before I go on narrating the anecdote, you need to know the big names too! So, here are our chosen ones, with a brief detailing for you to enjoy as you read!

The first announcement is not going to reveal any surprise to you for, we did mention this in our previous edition. But we surely have a great deal of information to share with you this time , as we make the announcement for the Featured Author of the Month of August 2013! Please put your hands together for Naresh Sehgal who is the chosen one for this month!
Ghumakkar caught up with this brilliant author and deciphered a lot more than we had initially thought! For you all to take a read, here is a snippet from the conversation:

….Naresh: The story got published and I got my first comment. It was hugely motivating and then I got many. The kind of response I received was overwhelming. This motivated me so much that I went ahead and wrote more.

Ghumakkar: I think you touched a very important point around encouraging authors to share more. Lets take a pause here and. Lets talk a bit about your personal side, your work life, your travels, your Ghumakkari moments and many more things. Lets start with your personal side. You are currently in Ambala. Have you been here since beginning ? ….

Click here to read more.

The next name I told HIM is a fresh announcement here too. The name of the author to whom Naresh is going to pass his crown! Reema, get ready to receive the crown and the bundle of appreciation with it as you get crowned as our Featured author of the Month of September 2013! Congratulations! Your 22 beautiful stories and a great connect with community surely speaks for this achievement!

How many of you have visited the Andamans? I have been there long ago. But my memories were refreshed and everything I had seen then came as a slideshow in front of my eyes as I read Sishir‘s lovely two tales on the Andamans. These stories and crisp and an informative tour guide for all those planning a trip to Andaman. This series is our this month’s Featured Story for the month of August 2013. Congratulations Sishir. You truly deserve this!

Take a quick look at what this gem holds. An extract is here for your read:

….. Our plan was to take a government ferry to Havelock and halt there for two days. For our return journey we planned to take the Makruzz back to Port Blair. We had to wake up at 5 in the morning to catch the ferry which leaves at 6:30 am. The harbour at Port Blair is lively even at these early hours as it caters to to the goods coming in from the mainland, as well as from nearby countries like Thailand. The ferry which we were to travel on, was operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. Our reserved seats in the first class compartment akin to the Indian Railways chair car coaches made our travel comfortable. During the journey to Havelock, you are free to go on deck. Travelers can hear the soothing sound of the waves hitting the craft and enjoy the vast expanse of the ocean. The blue sea, and the green emeralds dotting them, complement each other, and add to the experience……

Before I move on, let us congratulate the winners for their grand titles. I must say, you guys have always been making an impact on our mind and soul with your stories! Keep it up guys, we are waiting for more stories from you all!

By now, HE had begun to feel, I think, that HIS brightness and charm was not one of its kind and there was indeed a tough challenge our authors had posed for HIM to consider.
HE grew hotter with envy and I felt it was not nice of me to play pranks with him any more. I told HIM to relax as we posed no threat to HIM. I consoled HIM and said “ You are GOD! You are our inspiration. We only look up to you to raise so high, to shine so bright and to spread our fame like your rays!” HE calmed down, breathed a sigh of relief and blew mild breeze over my face. My face lit up too. I cajoled HIM further and after few hours HE heeded. It was evening when my efforts reaped fruits. HE said it was time to go and that HE would come back the next morning, with new rays of hope to awaken every sole on earth!

Quite an experience, isn’t it? I couldn’t help but share it with you all. I hope you liked it :)

With this, we reach the end of another fabulous month’s digest post. On behalf of the entire team, I would like to congratulate the winners of this month and the elected flag bearer for the next month :) Congratulations all!

Do you know Ghumakkar is growing popular by the day? Please pat your back because you have contributed to its success! You are the stars of our community , each one spilling your own spread of colors and making Ghumakkar an interesting travel website.

Our author Deepender is spreading his spectrum on other sites too! On AppDunia.com, he has written too. A mention of this is made here, because we think it is the apt forum for appreciation! Click here to read what he has written.

As always, we request you to write to us about what you like and what you want us to improve on. Also, please share with us your travel experiences, we would love to publish them here. For anything, you can reach us @ info@ghumakkar.com.

It is now time to say Goodbye with a promise to be back next month, with a better digest and more details to share!

Until next time,

Cheers all!