I Do Have A Story To Tell | Excellence in Storytelling Award!

Yes, I admit that I have many stories to share. But ‘Tell’ I will not. And that is precisely why I started blogging. From day one I had the above image in mind in various modes – the violet dream/impression mode in my photo-gallery, green day mode in Twitter when I communicate to the outside world, the B/W mode for my Facebook Profile picture as I would love my stories to impart some colour to it. Here, the empty seat is where ‘I’ sit and write. In my thoughts!

I also started blogging because I wanted to write and share my stories and not tell and re-tell them to my friends a million times who had started avoiding me as if I had the infamous Cheese-touch as in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You can watch here how horrible that can be. And if you are having doubts about whether I can match up to your IQ levels just because I have all the 5 books of Diary of A Wimpy Kid on my bedside table – then please re-consider. I can up-size my reading habits to your adult levels, but can you down-size yours to mine? If you can then well, you are probably already on my side. And if you can’t then I promise you that I have stories in my mind that is probably meant just for you. If they haven’t been published yet, they will soon be. Guaranteed.

If you are wondering where am I venturing today, well this is a bit of an introspection into my own journey jotting down my Travel & Road & Food Banters. Banters or Stories – that is exactly what I had been wanting to share with the following people -

- Like-minded people who wouldn’t close their browser windows looking at my posts just because they are not on cricket or say finance or say movies or say politics or say anything that doesn’t interest them. On the contrary they would, well jump excitedly because I write on travel and food journeys inspired by the people I have come across, the places that I have visited and the moments that have touched my heart

- Kind-Hearted people who will be kind enough to share my story with others

- Generous people who would be generous in leaving a small comment even if it’s a single letter code if they have happened to visit my site so that these comments (good or bad) can motivate me, inspire me and most importantly correct me when I’m astray

- Genuine people who would actually go through my story and then click the ‘LIKE’ button. I agree that everyone knows that I am at an emotional crossroad where I swell with each ‘LIKE’ but if you could please press the ‘LIKE’ button after waiting for about 5-7 minutes rather than 5 seconds of my posting a link. Even though it might be pretentious but I’ll never know that and I’ll genuinely feel elated knowing that you have read my story. Ideally, each story should take more than 5 minutes considering the 4-5 hours that I spend writing it and the minimum 15-20 pictures that accompany each post. But since my photographs are intended to narrate the story as well, it should take a minimum of 5 minutes if you skip the text. A bit more if they stimulate your visual senses. And much longer if they have touched your heart.

And that is when I feel I am rested. I could probably re-write the last line – ‘That is what I want to achieve/obtain/aspire/desire/intend ‘ but lately these words have started to make me feel as if I am a  conniver. I want to believe that my stories are reflecting the same sense of inspiration that had originally inspired me to write them.

And just when I start to think whether I am reaching out to the like-minded, kind-hearted, generous and the genuine people listed above, something like this happens. A nomination for the Excellence in Storytelling Award! And from whom? A writer and a story-teller herself and someone whose stories have been inspiring me. Dima from Dima’s Kitchen – a lady whose detailed insights into her travel journeys have transported me to the land she has travelled to or fills my senses with the aroma of the cooking and stirring up that she has been doing in the kitchens of quaint, ancient walls of Spanish Gastronomical societies.

And while accepting this nomination I feel the need to explain to a few dear bloggers who had previously nominated me for other blog awards which have humbled me deeply and have made me delirious but at the same time I haven’t gone forward with the requisites of these awards. Ashmita of The Chaotic Soul who had nominated me for the Sunshine Award and The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. She calls me IshitaDi (Di, short form of Didi/Sister is a suffix that adds lot of respect and seniority to a person). I have started interacting with Ashmita more than just leave-a-random-comment. She writes about her random daily life in Mumbai – a young, confident girl aspiring to be independent and enjoy life to the fullest. Her posts are like a déja vu – as if they are a reflection of my life a decade back, when I had just finished college and wanted to fly on my own wings and stand on my own feet. Unfortunately Ashmita, you don’t write on Food.

Then there is Tahmina of Kolpona Cuisine who had nominated me for being a Versatile Blogger. Tahmina cooks a whole lot of Bengali food – almost everything that I used to eat in my childhood – she takes me to a nostalgic period where my Mum and my Grand-mum never left their kitchens. She posts almost every other day. I wait for her posts to reach my mailbox. Her posts make me happy. They take me back to my childhood.

And a small note for This aMACEing Life for nominating me for a Liebster Award. Also shimmeshine for nominating me for a Kreative Blogger Award. If only these awards celebrated my designation as a Story-teller I would have immediately filled up the forms. This is not diplomacy. This is plain desperation to make people perceive what I want them to perceive – a story-teller. That’s why I am honoured when Ashmita who doesn’t write about food reads my stories or anyone coming from a different part of the world wants to read my story – the story of a Bengali who is an outsider in Bengal and a quintessential Bengali when outside Bengal, on her journey to becoming a world citizen.

I am reading new blogs everyday, falling in love with some and following them – I have always felt I cannot justify nominating only a few of them. At random moments of emotional vulnerability, I have scouted the Blogosphere for other Bengali Bloggers, just because I want to present Bengali Cuisine, specifically Bengali Fusion food to the world. In my search I have ended up reading and resorting to eCurry, Bong Mom’s CookBook (my eternal search for a Bong Mom ends here!), Sunshine & Smile or Cook Like A Bong. Everyday I am stumbling into more and bookmarking them. The same quest continues with other non-Bengali bloggers as well.

But what’s provided me with a lot of stimulation is my induction into Fooderati Arabia – a group of bloggers who apparently share the issues that I have – OCD (Obsessive Compulsive disorder). These bloggers have similar repeated thoughts (about food), feelings (about blogging), ideas (about why blogging on food give us solace), sensations and obsessions (photographing the food and dissecting it for digestion and the camera). I am getting to know each blogger and welcome the frills and feelers, support and solidarity that I am expecting them to provide in my blogging journey.

But it all started with one surprise Tweet on a Friday morning from a lady who claims that she practically owns the Custard Pie.

I am nominating her and a few others for this Excellence in Storytelling Award!
Sally Prosser @ My Custard Pie… for capturing the sunlight streaming into her house and spreading that onto her freshly baked loaf of bread and saving me from the misery of continuously thinking that my apartment doesn’t get any direct sunlight pouring in
Arva Ahmed @ I Live In A Frying Pan… for capturing my fancy with the title of her blog, her deliciously crunchy writing skills and humorous posts but mostly because of her random doodling, a hobby that I gave up down the years – when? how? I am not even aware
Sarah Walton @ The Hedonista… for her amazing photographs, sensitive travelogues and the fact that every-time she forces me into re-thinking that you can still narrate a story with as less as one single brilliant photograph which unfortunately I cannot as I’m no Hedonista
Shira @ in pursuit of more. Living With (Just A Little) Less… for inspiring me with each and every post of hers and making me realise that you can get MORE with much LESS.

And finally the lady who nominated me – Dima @ Dima’s Kitchen… for sharing her culinary experiences and narrating them in a manner that can only be achieved by being a keen learner and for telling me that I shouldn’t lose my vision and be just myself. Merely thanking her wouldn’t be enough. But I have to admit that I’m excited.

One random thing about myself that I want to share with everyone – I love to write on Bengali Sweets. Particularly Rasgulla or Roshogolla and probably I’ll do something unique and extra-ordinary things on it. In exactly what way I am yet to figure out. Till then you can enjoy a glimpse into the first pages of two of my Rasgulla album!

Unblogging it all… Ishita