Last month a blog friend wanted a few of us bloggers to write three points that they wished were better for women of the morrow (link). Along with that we had to give a three word bio of ourselves. This was mine: Book-lover, Blogger, Bird-stalker.
As a girl child with a very restrictive lifestyle, confined within the walls of my home, life to me was all about books. I devoured them in all forms, sizes and shapes. I read whatever books I could lay hands on. That is how I happened to read Seven Years in Tibet, much before most children my age would have given it a second glance. As far back as I can remember my nose was always buried in books, and when out of it I was merely daydreaming of what I had read. Oh, the magical world that books conjure up before one’s eyes! I lived (still do) in the stories they had to say, in the places they showed me, with the characters in them for company. To this day it is a struggle to pull myself out of the world of the book I am reading, back into the real one I am living in. Books let me look beyond the boundaries drawn for me while growing up. In fact I owe to books, more than I owe ANYONE AT ALL, for whatever I know, the way I think, and for who I turned out to be.
Being a blogger came next. This is my 7th year of blogging, and in those seven years I have shifted three platforms, written more than 1000 posts including those lost forever in moving from one place to another, diversified to a poetry blog, a photo-blog and also one for my darling Labrador Luci. Sometimes I do wonder how long I’d be blogging. Is it that, once a blogger always a blogger? Or will I wind it all up and decide to go loll on the beach listening to the waves? Just kidding. As if life is a holiday on a beach. Ha!
Bird-stalking (in other words, bird-watching) is a more recent activity. I was not yet a bird-stalker back when I noticed this exotic looking brown and green bird sitting on the electric cable outside my house. I took a click and posted the picture on Twitter to find who this winged visitor was. I was told that it was a Brown-headed Barbet. Wah, imagine that! That was the first I was hearing of Barbets. Then there were those tiny birds, only as big as huge butterflies, flitting to and fro on the garlic wine in my garden. I had no clue they were called Sunbirds. From there I have come a long, long way. Now I don’t wonder, but make straight for Google for an id. Over time, I have even earned myself the sobriquet of Birdwali Aunty from BlogwatiG‘s daughter. The latest is the bouts of *bird-fever* I reel under, an affliction, a serious one at that, which can be kept under control only by visiting places where birds abound. No kidding. That’s why I went off to Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary last month. But I can already feel the bird-fever coming on once again, and have the next place lined up to be off to as soon as I am done with the A to Z Challenge. 😉
Well, so that’s about me. Who are you in three words?
©Shail Mohan 2014
Some A-posts worth checking:
This is so intetesting to read more about you! Thank you for sharing. Excellent B post.
LikeLike
Thank you Ann 🙂
LikeLike
7th year of blogging! Hope there are no signs of the ‘7 year itch’!
As for me:
1. Book-lover: of course!!
2. Blogger: since last 9.5 months
3. Bldy good friend, though some (who have been at the receiving end of my ‘activism’!) would say Bldy A$$hole
LikeLike
Now that you mention it, was that the 7-year itch that brought me close to shutting down my blog a few times? wonders But nah, that was only my headaches and general poor health 🙂
I love that last point of yours! 😛
LikeLike
Bherry nicely done; beautifully done;
And thanks to you, I’ve become a budding bird watcher 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
And I am loving that budding bird-watcher in you. You stay in a place with lots of birds around! What you need next is start using your camera. 😀
LikeLike
Different aspects of your life, all encapsulated in one alphabet. Well done!
Damyanti
Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2014
Twitter: @damyantig
#atozchallenge
LikeLike
Thank you, Damyanti 🙂
LikeLike
You are these three and much more than this 🙂
LikeLike
😀
LikeLike
I loved the way you put yourself in those 3 words. Breaking my head on mine…
Baker comes first to mind 😀
Blogger, of course, it has to be there…even though I am not a regular now a days !
The third can be a mix of many things – Book-lover / Chef-at-home / Non-stop chatter-box / Briyani lover to site a few 😛
LikeLike
Hey! I love Biriyani too!
LikeLike
Good read. Thanks for sharing. Finding it difficult to describe myself in 3 words. Need to think 🙂 Bookworm would certainly be one of them.
LikeLike
Welcome to Shail’s Nest, Prathima. So we have books in common between us 🙂
LikeLike
7 years! That’s amazing!
LikeLike
7th year running. This is my 4th platform and all my earlier statistics have been lost, luckily not all posts 🙂
LikeLike
if those three words were not in this post, I’d have surely checked if I was at the right blog 😉 esp. the bird word for which you are famous 🙂
LikeLike
I am amazed at how quickly my name has been linked with ‘bird’! not that I am complaining 😉
LikeLike
And, you’re an ace at all three!
LikeLike
Aww… so nice of you to say that, Roshni! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks to your blog, I get to see birds I may never otherwise spot. Keep the blog going. You rock! 😀
LikeLike
Gee, thanks Debo! 😀
LikeLike
I can so identify with your childhood. Read books way beyond my age..because I read whatever I could lay my hands on… 🙂 lovely post!
LikeLike
^ 5 on that! 🙂
LikeLike
Wow.. it was lovely to read about the three Bs.. Book lover is for me also. The other two, I need to ponder…
LikeLike
Yay to the Book-lover. Will wait for you to decide on the other two 😉
LikeLike
And we are in awe for all those three talents 🙂 But as much as I know you from your blog, they perfectly describe you.
LikeLike
Thanks! 🙂
LikeLike
Wow beautiful….what a way to describe yourself 🙂
LikeLike
😀
LikeLike
I started reading book only during my college days..my roomie used to be always busy reading books. I used to feel bored as she never listens to what I talk. so, I ended up just picking the books from her bed and started reading them.. at last there was peace in the room.
LikeLike
Haha. That is nice. In college my friends used to tease me by saying my moods depended on what was happening in the book I was reading 😉
LikeLike
oh now I know why you liked my bird feeder idea so much! We are so alike!
LikeLike
Yes, now you do 😀 Nice to meet another bird-lover! 🙂
LikeLike
B is Books for me too.
3 words for me might be Blogger, Foodie and Loving.
http://www.volatilespirits.com
LikeLike
Nice! 🙂
LikeLike
1000 posts wow ..wonder when i would reach that. That pic looks beautiful… I haven’t done much bird watching… Hope you enjoy the activity 🙂
LikeLike
Oh I do enjoy bird-watching so much! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
LikeLike
Shail this is such a wonderful post. I loved reading about your childhood (though a small peak), about your first favorite book. Felt like I know you a little better. 🙂 And wow 1000 posts!
LikeLike
Thank you, Sfurti. 🙂
LikeLike
Ever since following your blog, I have loved those three aspects about you… 🙂 Nice to get a bit more insight into you…
LikeLike
Thank you, Psych Babbler 🙂
LikeLike
So glad to read about your love for books. I can shake hands with you on two out three. The only birds I recognise are the most common ones. I am always amazed at how you can take the simplest things and put them together so beautifully.
LikeLike
Thank you, Cynthia 🙂
LikeLike
Enjoyed your post. I’m not much of a bird watcher but I do enjoy your pics. 3 words to describe me Blogger Photographer, Poetry-writer (poet would be too arrogant). Nice post Shail.
LikeLike
Thank you Suzy. I know what you mean when you say ‘poetry-writer’. Somehow ‘poet’ seems the title for someone already well established and famous. 🙂 You do post some lovely photographs. 🙂
LikeLike
I’d just add dog-lover to your three ‘Bs’.
LikeLike
Omg, that’s true for me too! 🙂
Welcome to Shail’s Nest, Bob and thank you for the comment 🙂
LikeLike
What a lovely way to tackle the B post! I’d say I’m a book-lover, artist, & traveler 😀
LikeLike
That’s nice to know! 🙂
LikeLike
7 years is a long long time! Great!
I was also a book worm, long back! Was a good cook…now, blogging and taking photographs of anything and everything. Love birds and animals and nature. Cannot recognize birds though. You are teaching me to do that and I am learning slowly! I admire you for that, Shail!
LikeLike
Yes, it is a long long time of blogging 😀 We are similar in our love for animals and birds, or rather Nature itself. Thank you, Sandhya. 🙂
LikeLike
Your life is inspiring to most of us -“bloggers” – No am not exaggerating 🙂 Me in 3 words – reader, dreamer, doer (Well most of the times 🙂 ),
LikeLike
Well, I am blushing. Thank you, Afshan 🙂 I love the three words for you have chosen for yourself 🙂
LikeLike
I am a book lover and blogger but not yet a bird stalker. Maybe that is next?
LikeLike
Why not? May be that is indeed next 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, blogging as an activity acquires a mind of its own and takes us on courses we would have not imagined in our wildest dreams. Yes, I remember the three words you used to describe yourself. Very apt from what I know of you!
LikeLike
Thank you! 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, BirdWali Aunty, we so love you!!! And boy, no other three words would have impacted the way, these three did. Apt………….very, very APT.
And now to think of three words for me….OMG! 😀
LikeLike
May be one would do for you, (hyphenated) High-Priestess. 😀 😀 Suits you to a T.
LikeLike
Bibliophile, lover of words and blogger who’s missing all the fun here. Sigh. I had to scale down my internet activity if entrance preps were to reach anywhere.
Lovely post, Birdwali Aunty 😀 Here’s to a successful A-Z!
LikeLike
Thank you Zainab. Preps over? All the best! 🙂
LikeLike
Seven years is amazing! I hope I last that long 😀
Your enthusiasm for books is brilliant to read about.
LikeLike
Thank you. Though it has been 7 years, it seems more like I started blogging only yesterday! 🙂
LikeLike
You definitely are all the 3 and much more. Love your vibrant posts!
LikeLike
Thanks, Pooja 🙂
LikeLike
Hi, Shail. I’m definitely a bookworm, too! I loved reading so much as a child that I wanted to be a writer so I could read the stories no one had written yet. I’m the aunt who gives books for Christmas and birthdays. I want kids to love reading as much as possible now so they have a life-long love for books!
Happy A to Z-ing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines
LikeLike
Books are always the best gifts! I still remember the first set of Enid Blyton books I got from an Uncle. 🙂
Welcome to Shail’s Nest and thank you for the comment, Laura. 🙂
LikeLike
artist, writer, editor
and I am adding publishing to those 3 as soon as I get back on my feet.
So nice to meet you and #follow on WP
Enjoy the A to Z Challenge
Bridging Sorrow
LikeLike
Wonderful. Nice to meet you too! Welcome to Shail’s Nest and thank you for the comment 🙂
LikeLike
Glad to know so many beautiful aspects of you! Books…Ah…what can I say – a friend I can always go back too! I am a budding blogger as well & a keen observer of the birds!
LikeLike
So we have three things in common 🙂
LikeLike
Very interesting. And you are into your 7th year of blogging?? Wow!
LikeLike
More like 8. I counted wrong. 😛
LikeLike
I started reading you sometime in 2010 or 2011. But your clicks are something I really look forward to. Full of life!
LikeLike
Thank you, Rekha 🙂
LikeLike
Loved to read about you and your passions…we do know you as Birdwali aunty…and of course, I love you birdy clicks 🙂 Me in three words…… ???? Nah, not that easy 😛
LikeLike
Haha. Too multifaceted a personality? 😉
LikeLike
We have two of your three in common! I love books so much, I’m turning the guest bedroom into a library with a little fold-out bed in case my brother visits! I’m also a blogger, although software engineer was my profession before I got burned out on it. So, the third thing would have to be Maker. I love to make things… out of wood, metal, glass, you name it! 🙂
Random Musings from the KristenHead — B is for ‘Believe’ (and Behold the Beguiling Beauty of the Beach)
LikeLike
Wow, that’s cool, making things! I used to be sort of maker too, but have given up all that now 🙂
LikeLike
oh yes!! You have said it just right! 🙂
just 3 words!! Gosh! That’s hard!!
Book-loving, blogger (borrowing your words here), crazy woman with unlimited imagination? That works me thinks! 😀
LikeLike
Yeah, looks like that works for you! 😀
LikeLike
Great illustrations! Interesting reading!
LikeLike
Thank you, Hans 🙂
LikeLike
My B6w Blog: http://hanshb.wordpress.com/
and http://hanshb.wordpress.com/2014/
LikeLike