Daffodils

Oscar Wilde in his book, Picture of Dorian Grey says, “Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.” Before my feminist readers gang up and come after me with their hatchets to lynch me, let me clarify that I don’t really subscribe to this view point as such. But I could not but help remember this quote when I was going through the blog Daffodils of Aabha Midha. Of course the blog does have pretty decent content, but more than the content, it is the presentation that makes this blog stand apart. One look at the blog and you can feel the love and care the blogger has taken to create this blog. The blog’s title daffodils and the url ‘smile wid(th) abha’ symbolize the blogger’s spirit.

The content is mainly the experiences in Aabha’s life. Every human is unique and has something interesting to share. Here we get to know the various interesting aspects of Aabha’s life. The narratives are full of warmth and honesty. She openly shares her feelings and views on various day to day happening in the limited boundaries of her home and town as well as causes  related to the larger universe of the nation and the world in general such as feminism. Every post leaves the reader with an overall nice feeling.

Let us now go over her wonderful presentation. The back ground with a long distance blurred nature landscape and the daffodil fields in focus at the heading gives a nice fuzzy feeling the minute the blog comes into view. As they say well begun is half done. The appropriately chosen title comes out well, large and bold amidst the field of daffodils. The catch phrase ‘Slice of Life’ characterizes the purpose of the blog very well.

I would give full marks for the navigation. She has used the static pages to effectively give links to her different posts. Since I follow the same scheme on my blog, I am especially partial to this kind of a navigational construct. In addition, the popular post widget, the latest post widget and Google search further add to the navigability. In terms of widgets used, the blog does not look too cluttered as such. And it is nice to see widgets supporting her favorite causes. But I do not see much value as such in the live traffic and online counter widgets.

One of the best aspects of her posts is the simplicity and brevity. The posts are short and make an effortless read. No unnecessary verbosity. The text is supported either by original pictures or appropriately chosen from the internet. Most of the self shot pictures look pretty decent and are indeed a visual treat. The interaction with the readers is also pretty good.

If one were to go by her self- proclaimed objective of sharing a spectrum of her life with her readers, the blog is already doing a great job and there is not too much that needs to be done differently. But there is a glass ceiling to the level of achievement possibility for a purely personal blog in terms of traffic or fame. Especially a personal blog without glamour, controversy or comedy! So if the blogger is aiming for greater heights, she should consider specializing and look at taking the blog in a niche direction. Indian society, religion and culture could be one possible niche I can think of. Depending on the chosen niche, work has to start on identifying the right audience, their mindset and their needs. Then the blog must be customized to cater to those requirements. But that’s a choice I would leave to the blogger.

Overall, an excellent blog if one wants to steal a quick glimpse into the day today life and times of a typical Indian woman. Her posts are general feel good reads that anyone can relate to. I have given below a sample of best posts selected by the blogger herself as a starting point to explore her blog.

12 comments:

Aabha Vatsa said...

Thank you so much TF for the Review.

It is already posted on my Blog.

And my thoughts on your review have also been posted as a Blog Post.

check out:

http://www.smilewidabha.com/2012/04/my-take-on-review-of-daffodils-by-fool.html

T F Carthick said...

Thanks for making a complete post on your take on my feedback. Even the reviewer needs feedback to improve the quality of his reviewer.

Kajal said...

As always a pleasure to read your review.. so crisp and encouraging..And I have to agree with "The catch phrase ‘Slice of Life’ characterizes the purpose of the blog very well."

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Kajal. Glad you liked it.

Ekta said...

Hey liked the way you reviewed 'daffodils'. But am not sure if i quite liked your opening though it did create interest value.
Anyway would love to hear your views about my blog given that am a fairly new blogger or rather have a fairly new committment to blog regulary.
Cheers! Ekta

T F Carthick said...

@Ekta - Thanks. You can leave your details either on my blog review thread or at Indiblogger. I review only blogs older than 13 months because it takes at least that much time for a blog to mature and develop a character. But you can leave your name in the list. You will be the 17th in the list and it might take that much time for your turn to come.

Obviously no woman is going to like the quote. But as I have stated immediately, I am not agreeing with Oscar Wilde. Just quoting him.

Ekta said...

@The Fool, my blog is much older than 13 months, it's just that initially i didn't post much given that i was a working mom and didn't get time. But now I have taken a career break so have committed to chase my passion of writing. Would totally understand if you find it not ready for a review yet. Here is the link.
http://life-interpretations.blogspot.com/

Saru Singhal said...

I follow and it's a great blog. You presented the blog in a right spirit. Great review...:)

T F Carthick said...

@ Ekta. I would be needing some details to look at your blog in the right perspective as my judgement of an entire blog is going to be based on 10-12 posts. So request you to check out this thread and leave your details there.

http://luciferhouseinc.blogspot.in/2011/12/blog-reviews.html

Also request you to be patient as I have 16 blogs before yours waiting for review.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks a lot, Saru. I am glad you liked my review.

Elvira Lobo(Elli) said...

wow...liked ur review...and truly it is a wonderful blog:)

T F Carthick said...

Thanks Elli.

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