Thanks to Prashant Mullick I have discovered a wonderful photo-blogger (and web designer): Adam Polselli.

Comments welcome.

Thanks (again) Arindam!

Back on January 21, 2004 I exulted in the fact that I had received 50 subscribers to this blog – Tiffinbox. Well today, thanks to you all, I have reached another milestone when the 100th subscriber joined this list!

Your site “TIFFINBOX” received 1 new subscribers today.
It has 100 total subscribers and is ranked #196 on Bloglet.

What would make this experience even richer is if you all could take the time to comment or email me your suggestions. During a recent panel on blogging, I lamented that most of those comments I do receive (and have to delete) are from spammers. Well, let's change that around shall we? It would be great if you could keep your eyes peeled for content that would make for an interesting read for everyone.

Some of you have already told me that the site needs a redesign and badly. I am working on that, I assure you. My friend Arindam Mukherjee has designed a new logo. I'll be releasing both the logo and the site in the next few weeks. If there are features you would like to see on this site that you have seen elsewhere, do let me know. I'll be happy to see if it will make or break the site.

While 100 is a great round number, this site isn't just about increasing traffic. It's about involving each of you in this experiment in such a way that we can raise our collective awareness of the similarities and differences within South Asian culture and its ultimate relationship with rest of the world. It's a tall order, no doubt, but it can be done through thoughtful dialogue and an exchange of ideas which could take shape as photography, writing, art & design.

So, if you know of people involved in any of these endeavors, send them my way – email me at: tiffinbox {at} pipalproductions {dot} com. I'll be happy to post a blog about them and link to their website, if they have one.

I welcome all of you to participate and to let others know about Tiffinbox.

I sat with an august group of bloggers last Friday at the SAJA convention in NYC. Jen Chung of Gothamist sat to my immediate left. Others who made the lineup were Prashant Kothari of Finding My Voice, Anil Dash of Six Apart, Mark Dery of NYU, Nimesh Patel of Mahoot Media (and Badmash fame).

While I conceived the panel on blogging for the convention, Mimi Hanaoka of InTheFray.com moderated it with great dexterity, pinching us from time to time to think about how blogging figures in the grassroots mobilization of society (if it does at all), as a part of the democratic process.

There are so many aspects of blogging that I am just discovering. Issues on privacy, advertising and the general lack of access for the majority of people to the kind of technology that makes blogging possible was discussed. It made for an interesting experience.

Rupa Datta, a recent Columbia University J-school grad in the audience sat upfront with her PC laptop propped up on her lap … blogging! The wi-fi signal at Lerner Hall made it possible for her to post her thoughts on her own blog as the panel on blogging unfolded.

The New York Times today has an article about how obsessive bloggers can be about, well, blogging.

While my habits are not detrimental to personal relationships or my job, the article certainly makes me wonder if and whether one could make a living by just blogging? Anyone else even tempted to consider such an option? Who wouldn't like to troll the internet all day in search of nuggets of information to share?

I think i would do it, if I could be compensated for it (way to pay my bills, buy some toys, pay off school debt and save for the future) and if the topic at hand was something I am really interested in blogging about. At least 86 of you have signed on to receive updates from this site (thank you!) but there are those who blog and have either no inkling of how many people read their writing or don't really care.

I do. Spread the gospel, if this site has been of some use to you. Click on the “Tell-A-Friend” button. See, I do try and make things easy for you. [grin] My goal is to get 14 more subscribers by the end of this month.

Speaking of blogging, I am going to be a part of a panel on blogging at the SAJA convention. Yes, apart from the PHOTOFORUM events, I signed on to chime in from time to time about my experiences in BlogLand.

Moderated by Mimi Hanaoka, Assistant Editor of InTheFray, this panel will examine the ways in which blogging enables broader participation in society – particularly at the grassroots level – while also examining the limits of blogging, asking questions such as: Who gets excluded? Is it possible for this sort of grassroots democracy to effectuate change beyond the Internet at the local and national (or even international levels)? Where do readers come into play in this sort of participatory democracy? How is journalistic integrity compromised through blogging? How does blogging relate to democracy and journalism? Is blogging journalism? Is a blogger a journalist? Why are some newspapers allowing their editors to blog while some others shun the practice? What are photo blogs? How is blogging forcing journalism to evolve?

Panelists will include: Nimesh Patel of Badmash, Jen Chung of Gothamist, Seshu Badrinath of Tiffinbox and Anil Dash of Six Apart, the company that makes MovableType and TypePad, two robust blogging tools. [Please note that Jen Chung and Anil Dash have yet to confirm their presence at the convention]

The panel, called “Blogging Anyone?” will take place on June 18, 2004 (Friday) 2.15 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at Columbia University's Lerner Hall (part of the 10th anniversary celebrations and the annual SAJA convention).