Xvzx is 1 year old (or 1 year + 1 day old- depending on which part of the world you live in) today and some things have changed and some have not. I’m still the frugal ol’ Vishwas who has a hard time spending money on anything (other than tech purchases) even though I earn almost $1000 every month (for now).
A quick look through my webstats show that about 56 of my friends have been faithful enough to follow my blog almost daily and add about 500 unique visitors to my gallery, blog and temple forums combined. Admittedly this number is not enough to give me a page rank of 10 but I’m happy with a humble 3 too.
When I created Xvzx, my only aim was to have a webportal where I can let university officials know about my most recent achievements and awards even after I’ve submitted my application for MPH. I’ve come a long way from there and while my main domain (Xvzx.net) remains neglected (for sheer lack of effort from my side to edit static html pages), my blog has been flourishing with activity from friends like sachin (Realin), Santosh and many unheard & unknown readers who were lazy enough to close their browsers without commenting (hint guys: Please leave your comments if you can. It serves as a motivation for me to write more).
Inheritance is not something you chose but are given by nature and unfortunately (or fortunately) I’ve inherited my mothers nag for organizing things. There have been instances where I’ve seriously considered if I had OCD or not. I divided my site up into several sub-domains just to keep things organized but ended up paying more attention to my blog and neglected the main site for so long (last updated on 28th January, 2007). Over the last couple of months I’ve seriously deliberated whether I should merge my blog and main site (since it no longer serves its purpose) but never got the feedback or the urge to do so (partly because I’ve been busy lately – more on that later). For the time being it lies in a status quo situation until I decide what to do with it (suggestions are welcome).
The blog (Scribble Pad) is a different story. Looking back at all the posts I’ve made over the months, I can see the transition I’ve made from being a carefree intern doctor in India who enjoyed home cooked food to being a stressed out public health student in Philadelphia who is usually starved (post edit: I just had a great party at work today – pies, tarts, cakes. So I take my words back. I’m not starving but longing for home food). By no means am I unhappy with my current life but my priorities in life have changed and this is reason why I’ve not been writing too frequently lately. It is a difficult task to concentrate on your studies while all your loved ones are back at home in India. Luckily I’ve got a second family that is as good (if not great) as the one back home – My friends Abhi, Nazneen, Shreya, Vikin, Nick, Puratan, Satish and Bharat – I couldn’t have made it without you. This blog is dedicated to you as well.
I’ve always believed that life is too short to be lived seriously (this does not mean that I’m never serious in life) and try to turn any situation into a humorous one (hint: more funny posts to follow). Sometimes this is good and sometimes bad but I cannot change myself and so the content of Xvzx will retain that tone for ever (or until the time when I have a kid – I plan to write all about diapers after that).
A few words about the other subdomains as well:
The gallery has been growing with photographs since its inception and I’m running out of webspace to host it. This has been one of the reasons why I’ve not been uploading new pics lately and I am trying to work out a deal with my hosting provider to give me more space (another hint: More pics to be uploaded shortly)
The Temple University Indians (temple.xvzx.net) subdomain was a temporary offshoot to help me and other incoming graduate students get a platform where we can ask questions. Surely there were other online forums (namely the infamous “Orkutâ€) where students did ask questions but I created this sub-domain just because I could (more like as a “proof of concept†thingy). It was good while it lasted and I’ve still kept it running because someday in the future some new student might gain information while going through the discussions. Practically, it is a dead project for me now.
All in all, this whole experience has been wonderful especially with the support of all my friends and family. Its put my name on the web 2.0 map (you can actually search for it on Google – just search “Vishwas Vanar†and you’ll get links to my gallery and my band) and I couldn’t be more happy. So much for the emotional writings, ITS TIME TO CELEBRATE:
Xvzx is one year old… YAY!!!
Fight on, Fly on… Till The Last Drop of Blood and Gasoline
- Vishwas
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