All my life, I’ve written for money.

For a client. With a purpose. On a deadline. In different writing styles. Targeting different audiences.

And I have no regrets.

Most of my life I’ve had to be in a position to perforce take decisions. As a Director. Of films. Of companies.

So just as I use theatre as a passionate distraction where I am very comfortable with someone taking on the mantle of Director, I thought blogging would be my ‘write for fun’ distraction.

To write without direction. To write without expecting money in return. To write without a deadline. To write for nothing but the sheer pleasure of writing. And perhaps feeling good when my writing evoked appreciation from like minded people.

So when I heard about the Hyderabad Bloggers Meet I was in two minds. To go or not to go.

What should I look forward to? Was it going to be a ‘gyaan’ session? Would I be amidst a bunch of revenue hungry youngsters who were exploring monetisation opportunities with SEO, SEM and other deceptive three letter words?

Or was it going to be a place where I was outnumbered, out-aged and out witted? Damn it, let’s just go there, I finally decided. After all my friend Subhorup was the driving force behind this initiative. And I was sure to bump into some of my Facebook/Foodie Friends who are always a pleasure to meet in the offline world.

And I wasn’t disappointed. Sabyasachi was there. Usha. Neidhi. Ashis. Sanjay. And quite a few others whose face I recognised but didn’t quite manage to ‘name’.

Due to some confusion, the first speaker was a young man…Venki…who flashed his venkinesis handle. In a few quick slides he reduced the art of writing into a right brain, left brain exercise and separated the narrative into clarity and impact. Suddenly I felt I was back at Advertising School where we were told, taught that no amount of clarity would work if you did not have impact.

But perhaps the Blogging World is a different kettle of fish I thought and listened.

Then it was time for a Feast and a dunk into April’s Well.

And voila! The presentation devil appeared. Suddenly the laptops lost their connection with the projector. And there was an embarrassing lull.

The boys battled on. And April used her I-Pad to make a charming and effusive presentation about what the US Government was looking for from bloggers and similar communities.

Finally it was lunchtime. And then I realised that the Feast was going to be the highlight of this day. What a concept!

Let’s try and bring back the good days of friends and families breaking bread together. Days when homes were platforms to show off culinary skills and real networks. And in the process, their initiative had made possible a sampling of food prepared by two unlikely chefs. Oh I love it when business initiatives discover a strong social angle literally at birth.

The lunch was simple yet wholesome and filling. And quite naturally, sleep inducing.

Some amount of psycho mumbo jumbo was thrown in at this stage to try and stir things up. But Subhabrata’s presentation reminded me again that in today’s world, audiences could be more demanding than clients. Attention Span problems were natural. And the call for tea was a welcome break.

That gave me a chance to rue that I hadn’t taken advantage of my friendship with my ‘Tea’ friend and spent some time with him just dipping into chai and the mist of nothingness.

The introductions over…each of us was invited to describe ourselves in one word…and that is difficult. Try it.

But it generates serious laughter.

And I was getting ready to sit through a presentation by Saurabh Chatterjee whose work I follow..but…

Suddenly I was feeling unwell. And had to rush home. Talk of unceremonious exits. And without even waiting for the Kheema Kachoris.

So what did I take home? Some pleasant memories. Some insights that may not be useful to me today, but a definite and welcome addition to the data base I call my collection of wisdom and knowledge.

And perhaps a clarity that says I should continue blogging. Aimlessly. Without expecting anything in return but a smile. And a feeling of belonging that I always cherish.