1,500… and counting

Today, we cross another milestone – 1,500 blog posts. Very few blogs, you would notice, have reached this figure. In fact, 90 per cent of all blogs fold up within the first 100 posts. Of the remaining that survive, most are erratic and subjective (in the nature of personal musings) and with hardly any readership or page hits. We already have notched 350,000-plus page hits.
This blog was launched on June 19, 2010 (ref first post: Merry Men of Lokhandwala) on a whim and with absolutely no expectation. At best, we had hoped to provide a daily update on the happenings in the Garden and by default, establish some kind of connect between members and their extended families, many of whom are settled abroad. Little did we anticipate that this would develop into a platform for everyone to rally around and over time generate a phenomenal readership encompassing almost all nationalities in the world. In the process, many of our 'news grabbers' like Srichand Arora, Nahid Khan, Shekhawat, Santosh Tyagi and Monthi Serrao have become household names – if not international stars.

Tara Chand celebrates with gajak

Mallika Kagzi treats us to breakfast

What’s more, the name of this blog, BIG LAAF has gone on to embody the very identity of our Club.
None of this could have been possible without the active collaboration and involvement of all our members. From Jagmohan Papneja and Arora to Yusuf Rassiwala, Arun Patil and Razia Khan to Sunita Jajodia, Harish Wadhwa, Renu Babani, Bhaswati Bose, Khatoon Baig, Mallika Kagzi and now, Kiran Prakash, everyone has been extremely supportive, even in the face of occasional criticism. For if there is one principle this blog lives by, it is to present information truthfully – without favour, prejudice or fear. Probably, this is another reason why we could reach this far.
Nothing was planned to celebrate the success. By a happy augury, Tara Chand Seth had brought us two boxes of gajak from Delhi. He wanted to distribute them earlier, but by some strange coincidence had saved them for today. Mallika Kagzi also had a surprise for us -- what with veg and non-veg keema, wrapped in fresh pao and served with nice, hot tea. It was the death anniversary of her daughter today.
Jagmohan Papneja:
What a great achievement on the completion of 1500 blog posts! Really you have made us proud with your sincere determination and efforts. Keep this spirit alive. Well done and congratulations on this great achievement.
Kiran Prakash:
Congratulations on achieving the milestone of 1500 blog posts. I am totally in agreement that this is because you present information "truthfully - without favour, prejudice or fear". Let us all together strive for the next milestone of 2000 blog posts. We are proud of our BIG LAAF.