Meet Archana Sundara – Featured Author for July 2011

Archana is our ‘Featured Ghumakkar Author’ for July 2011 and Vibha caught up with her over e-mail and I had a delightful talk with her over a long distance call. I know, the alert amid you, would have noticed that isn’t it the same as last time when Manish Kumar was the ‘Featured Ghumakkar Author for June 2011’ and I did a long distance call. Though it is the Editor who calls the shots but I can tell you that there is no geo bias and I would prefer to make a local call.

We talked about how she got introduced (and later hooked) to Ghumakkar, what all she has been doing off late, how life in Germany is now making her meet new people and visit new places and her favorite Authors. Thank you Karthik for introducing Archana to Ghumakkar.

Without further ado, lets move to the conversation we had.

Ghumakkar: We would like to know about you. Tell us who is Archana, apart from what you’ve already written on your profile.
Archana: I am a curious person with an inclination towards varied interests. I like to cook, I love to sketch, I make beaded jewelry, I blog and I love to socialize with people. I have now taken a break in my career as a Software Engineer( worked in Hewlett-Packard before) and am enjoying the leisure I got after I moved in to Germany from Bangalore. I am now serving the role of a home maker and I slowly gearing up to pick up my next job on career front!

Ghumakkar: You have a lot of artistic interests. What inspires the creativity?
Archana: Thank you Vibha for acknowledging my creative interests. Creativity for me is an inspiration derived out of my curiosity. When I see something new, I try to comprehend it in my own way and I put that into implementation. Sometimes I mess it up big time and never show anyone what I tried :) Not fearing the negative comments, but in order to save them from a shock :). Jokes apart, most other times, I get inspired when I get complimented and that makes me do more and better stuff.

Ghumakkar: How long have you been travelling now? And what keeps you motivated?
Archana: Fortunately enough, I have had friends and people in my family who have an extensive urge to travel. My mom and dad have never missed a chance to travel when they had a vacation. Most times to temples though :) But these trips were also coupled with recreational places. So that my sister (elder one) & I never grumble!! It was fun for us. Travelling has thus come to me.. I would love to mention how curious as a traveller my husband is! His fetish for photography drives us to better places each time :). Over all, I can say, the like-minded people and the abundance of beauty that nature possesses has kept me on my toes always!

Ghumakkar: What kind of places do you like to travel to?
Archana: I usually prefer places with scenic beauty and history. I like the freshness these places have! In natural landscapes everything *is*inherently fresh while in historic places, the tales they tell us itself is refreshing!! There is so much to learn from nature and from history that it compels me to search for such destinations. But when with an energetic company, I also love to go to vibrant cities and to places like a Fun fair or a Carnival!!

Ghumakkar: What are your travel plans for the rest of 2011?
Archana: 2011 has been promising w.r.t travel! It all started off with our travel in Europe. We have been seeing a lot of places in and around Düsseldorf within Germany and we have also travelled to Swiss recently. This year, it will be some more places in Europe itself. I guess it will be Paris ,Venice, Heidelberg & probably Berlin – in the order of preference :). But when I read about the articles on Ghumakkar related to places in India, I am tempted to go back to India and explore those places!! Hopefully, that will be Travel destinations for 2012!!

Ghumakkar: How did you come across Ghumakkar?
Archana: Karthik Rangamani (RK as I call him) read my blogs on travel and suggested that I join Ghumakkar. He told me about how he started off with Ghumakkar and also about how he has always loved to be associated with it. I felt nice knowing about the Ghumakkar community. I began then with my first ever post open for a wide audience!! I must confess, I was scared then but now I am hooked to it :)

Ghumakkar: You have been with Ghumakkar for 2 years now. How has your experience been so far?
Archana: I realised it was two years, only when I learnt from you now!! With Ghumakkar, each day seems pleasant with so many experiences shared by avid travellers and enthusiastic writers! It is really refreshing and invigorating to read their articles. What I like the most is how people appreciate our writing with their heart-felt comments. Feels great you know! Also, Ghumakkar keeps my *”places-to-visit”* list growing!!

Ghumakkar: After writing two stories in 2009, you vanished in 2010. We were glad to have you back in 2011. What encouraged you to come back?
Archana: After 2009, I did not travel much I must say. All thanks to a busy schedule at work and my marriage preparations at home! I was back in 2011 and it would not be wrong to give all the credit to my husband and family who have put me back on the writing track!  After every new place explored, my folks ask me “*So, does this make an entry into ghumakkar??*”  With such eager & supporting  audience, I can’t miss writing on Ghumakkar :)

Ghumakkar: You are the Featured Author for the month of July. How does it feel?
Archana: “Featured Author of the month” is a big tag for me!! I feel like a celebrity!! Honestly :) I started writing on Ghumakkar to share my experiences and to learn from others’ experiences. My writing was well received but I dint guess it that it would one day give me a title this big!! It is for me an appreciation of my good work and also, it has set a responsibility for me to write better and more often!

Ghumakkar: Do you have something to say to your fellow Ghumakkars?
Archana: The people on Ghumakkar are all special each one having his own way of narration and writing. People from various walks of life are all here. For all of them, I only want to say “Thank you for inspiring me!” I would not be this good if I weren’t inspired by you all! My style and content has surely had an impact with the articles I read here and because of the comments I have received from a few. I happened to read Ram Dhall Sir’s article on Switzerland (posted in 2008). I too have visited the same places. But I was amazed at how he has neatly written it in his simple yet effective style. Hats off to you Sir! I only wish, I become as proficient as several other experienced folks here.

Thank you Archana for talking to us. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and it seemed as if we have spoken to each other many times. I would bet that Germany would have felt the warmth as well. Hope to read more of your tales in coming times.