The Sunday Roast

One Flew Into The Cuckoo's Nest

This week's interview is with Cuckoo,

who writes the blog Cuckoo Cosmos.

The first of the standard questions. Why do you blog?

I blog for many reasons, foremost being a platform to give vent to my emotions, thoughts and views about the happenings around me. Sharing my views, my experiences, recording funny anecdotes, documenting travel experiences are some more reasons to blog, which get expressed in very simple forms that include prose, poetry (both Hindi and English) and sometimes only pictures. Often I also blog for fun and creativity and you’ll be glad to know that we still often play the "Passing the Sentence" game on my blog.

What's the story behind your blog name?

Which blog ? I have three!! Well, I like the name Cuckoo very much (smiles & winks). So it had to be something related to Cuckoo. The name of my travel blog "Le Monde – Cuckoo’s Eyeview" came in because of my love for French language. This is the only foreign language I know. No, I don’t consider English as a foreign language.

What is the best thing about being a blogger?

First is expressing and sharing views and ideas with outside world. I read somewhere that there are also psychological benefits of blogging. I think that’s very correct. By nature I am a very quiet and reserved person. Blogging has made me more open, more lively. I can opine about most of the topics instead of keeping them to myself. Also, now I can dance in the rain in the middle of the road which I could not even imagine earlier. :)

Blogging gives another dimension to friendship. Meeting so many wonderful blog friends from all over the world whom I haven’t even seen, has added an unexpected measure of joy to my blogging hobby. Had I never started blogging, I would have never met you or so many other people. I have made some good friends here who are as concerned about me as my own people.

The positive thing about being a blogger is learning through the words of these friends who are open, friendly, and kind. Like true friends, they don’t forget to criticize something they don’t like on my blog. One amazing thing that I came to know recently is that there is somebody from our own apartment building who is a fan of mine. I am yet to find out who the person is. :)

What key advice would you give to a newbie blogger?

My advice to a new blogger is to have patience, not to worry about readership, continuously write good original stuff and enjoy the abundance of new-found blog friends. Read some blogs. If somebody stops and leaves a comment on your blog, the first thing is to reply them and return visits. Go to their blog and say hi. If you actually know something about whatever they have posted, then share your knowledge about that subject with them. Do not try to fake it. Answer appropriately. BTW, I have decided to write on this topic in detail on my blog.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever read?

I have read many blogs and a lot of them have made me stop and think. At this point, I cannot single out a post but there have been many which I enjoyed reading.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever written?

I have written many posts on my surroundings which were significant in their own way as each one of them has been individual and true. But as of today, I think I’ll give my vote to That Was Indu. Indu was my classmate in school and became an unfortunate victim of our society. This post is very close to me.

Today's Sunday Roast with Cuckoo is the 33rd in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.

Star Tech

Strengthening The Cuckoo's Nest

Cuckoo, you are a writer of many moods - and that is a compliment. A blog is a mirror to the writer's soul and your site reflects many facets of your personality. I like the fact that you are willing to tackle a variety of issues and a variety of subjects.

Your post Fabio Cannavaro from 29 November last year is a great example of your ability to kick up your (high) heels and laugh with your readers. You took a sequence of photographs and put them to witty captions and left us with something to chuckle over. Well done, for there must always be a special place for laughter in today's world.

The post Tears of Joy tells a story that is relevant to anyone, irrespective of race, creed or religion. The simplest stories are the stories that ``carry'' the most effectively from one location to another. The post That was Indu was heart-warming and memorable because it spoke to us all. We all knew people like Indu and because of that, I raced through the story to find out what happened to her.

There is a capricious nature to your blog and that, to me, is a very endearing quality. It's like reading a newspaper and flicking from the news pages to the opinion pages, to social commentary and then to the humour columns - all in one. The post Finally Back made me laugh because you openly debated the logic of joining three little kids under a hose to escape the heat.

On the technical side, I'd advise you to look closely at the problem of your sidebar with your personal information and the chat box. At the moment, it's sitting down the right-hand side of the screen, below your last post. I haven't looked into the details of your template, but it looks as if there is an easy fix. I think the width of your left-hand textbox has exceeded the prescribed margin, or the width of your post area has exceeded the original parameters. You
just need to check the original details on your template and then try and track down exactly where the width has been exceeded. Once this is done, the right-hand textbox will revert to its intended position.

Why is this important? Because the casual or first-time reader wants to know who a blogger is. They want to put a face or a name to a good blog. And it is our responsibility to give them as many clues as possible to remember us.