Gauravonomics Blog

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Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is Deep Thought by TGFI.

Here’s TGFI on herself -

TGFI is a Ph.D student, chronic procrastinator and risk-taker. Right now, her life revolves around lab, and getting that elusive Ph.D. She loves science, Bombay, people who laugh, cribbing about grad school life, arguing about women’s lib, drunken revelry and cute salsa partners.

(which reminds me that the post which had me hooked to her blog also involved a drunken night out with the girls, and much laughter, and maybe even some roadside singing. URL please Thank you, TGFI!)

Here’s TGFI on her blog -

Her blog is a personal diary with snippets about her life. Initially very skeptical about such a thing as baring your soul on the www, TGFI has gotten hooked onto blogging as a venting board and enjoys the camaraderie, sharing of thoughts and the several blog-friendships that came out of it. Her biggest nightmare is her blog being “found” by people she knows in real life and she blogs in that fear, constantly.

I’m sure all you anonymous personal bloggers have dealt with that dichotomy too - the joy of finding friends in strangers and the fear of being found by friends.

Quick Summary: Read about how I entered the Technorati Top 100 Most Favorited Blogs list.

Gauravonomics is a Technorati Top 100 Most Favorited Blog now!

A big “Thank You!” to everybody who made it possible.

A Little Background First: My 30 by 30 List

I made a little list sometime back - ‘Thirty Things I Want to do Before I am Thirty’ -

The interesting thing about my 30 by 30 list is that every single thing on it looks impossible today… But, if I do manage to do all thirty, what a story it will be! So, even though I know that the odds are impossible, I’m doing it anyway, because, never again in my life, will I be young enough, or foolhardy enough, to even try something as insane.

- and ‘Take Gauravonomics into the Technorati Top 100 List’ was one of the more ambitious items on my list.

My Technorati Favorites Exchange

When Dosh Dosh broke into the Technorati Top 100 Most Favorited Blogs list by running a Technorati Favorites exchange program I realized that -

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind by GreatBong aka Arnab.

Three reasons why I love Arnab’s blog -

- There are no sacred cows on Arnab’s blog and nobody and nothing escapes his razor sharp satire.
- Arnab’s headers are often laugh out loud funny.
- Arnab’s devotion to Mitunism is now legendary.

My tip to Arnab: How can I even presume to offer a blogging tip to the master himself? But, if I must, consider adding some navigation elements on the sidebar for your single posts.

So, why is Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind the Desi Blog of the Day? Because in the Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs list, he would define ‘Must Read’ for most desi blog readers.

PS: I just realized that Arnab has 1100+ feed subscribers; I’m not sure if another desi blog has half as many.

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is Trivial Matters by Akshay Mahajan.

Three reasons why I love Akshay’s blog -

- Akshay has an amazing eye for finding a story in people and places most of us don’t even notice.
- Not only does he photograph people beautifully, he tries to really understand them, and it shows in his sensitive photo-essays.
- His photographs make Bombay look even more beautiful than it is.

My tip to Akshay: Consider adding a “best posts” section in your sidebar and check out Blogger’s custom domain name service - trivialmatters.org and akshaymahajan.org are still available.

So, why is Trivial Matters the Desi Blog of the Day? He converted me into a cameraholic.

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.

Check out the new version of my Technorati Favorites Exchange which allows you to be automatically favorited and discovered by hundreds of new blogs across the world.

Dosh Dosh has managed to break into the Technorati Top 100 Most Favorited Blogs list at #31 by running a Technorati Favorites exchange program -

Create a post on your blog announcing that you are exchanging Technorati favorites. Prominently include a link to this post to indicate that there is a similar exchange going on at Dosh Dosh.

Once I’ve noticed the link via trackback or Technorati, I’ll include a link to your post on Technorati favorites in this post itself so readers here can visit your blog to participate if they want to.

While it is really difficult to break into the Technorati Top 100 Most Linked Blogs list, it is easier to break into the Technorati Top 100 Most Favorited Blogs list because you only need about 125 people to add you to their Technorati Favorites list.

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is Sonia Faleiro’s blog.

Three reasons why I love Sonia’s blog -

- I love how Sonia mixes around well-written journalistic pieces with trivia about pop culture and humorous personal posts about her dog.
- Not only does she have a way with words, she also tells stories with her photographs - check out her photo essays.
- She’s perhaps one of the prettiest desi blogger-writers around.

My tip to Sonia: Ever thought about moving your blog to soniafaleiro.com/blog? I’m sure Blogger’s custom domain name service can handle that.

So, why is Sonia’s blog the Desi Blog of the Day? How many desi bloggers are that pretty, or write that well?

PS: If you didn’t notice, I have a small huge crush on Sonia.

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.

Dosh Dosh has a great collection of posts on whether you should display the feed count for your blog.

Whenever I find myself on a new blog, I quickly check the blog’s Technorati rank and feed count to get a sense of the blog’s popularity.

If it is a desi blog, and I like the two or three posts I have read on the blog, I subscribe to it anyway, because popularity metrics aren’t really an indication of the quality of writing on personal or opinion blogs. However, if it is a blog in a saturated niche like blogging tips, personal development, marketing or technology, I do use these popularity metrics as a proxy for how influential the blog is in its niche and rarely subscribe to any blog which has less than a few hundred links or subs.

A lot of blog readers also use these popularity metrics as a filter before subscribing to a new blog and you need to be aware of it before you decide to display your feed count on your blog.

In my opinion, you should display your feed count if -

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is ‘Ultrabrown’ by Manish Vij.

Three reasons why I love Ultrabrown -

- Manish writes about desi popular culture with the depth and range of an insider - such a rare thing.
- He has an uncanny ability to find comedy in unusual situations and his humour is always spot on.
- He uses the coolest post-a-story plugin in his sidebar.

My tip to Manish: All the other Ultrabrown contributors have great blogs of their own, but they aren’t writing many original posts at Ultrabrown. Wouldn’t it be better to either have contributors who blog regularly without cross-posting (like at Sepia Mutiny), or have no contributors at all?

So, why is ‘Ultrabrown’ the Desi Blog of the Day? Have you ever wondered why Gauravonomics is so wannabe-Ultrabrown?

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is ‘Jabberwock’ by Jai Arjun Singh.

Three reasons why I love Jai’s blog -

- Nobody else writes as prolifically or as beautifully about books and movies as him.
- His interviews are more personal and insightful than any other I have read on desi blogs.
- He manages to make even his rants read like literature.

My tip to Jai: Move to your own domain using Blogger’s custom domain name service; jaiarjun.com is available as of today (I checked).

So, why is ‘Jabberwock’ the Desi Blog of the Day? Because Jai makes me want to be a ‘writer’, instead of the ‘linker’ that I am.

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.

Today’s Desi Blog of the Day is ‘Uber Desi’.

Three reasons why I love ‘Uber Desi’ -

- They discovered Sanjaya Malakar and Shyamali Malakar.
- They have the coolest rotating header images ever.
- Gauravonomics is one of the seven ‘Uber Reads’ on their sidebar.

My tip to Uber Desi: Think of what next after Sanjaya Malakar.

So, why is ‘Uber Desi’ the Desi Blog of the Day? Because they are the only other desi pop culture blog worth reading, apart from ‘Sepia Mutiny’ and ‘UltraBrown’.

Also see - BlogTipping and Hundred Must Read Desi Blogs.