Follow Me!

So you’ve got yourself a twitter account, but are still struggling with followers. How is it that geek you went to high school with has hundreds of followers and countless retweets and you’ve got squat!
Well there are a few unspoken rules that us tweeps “follow” when it comes to following and tweeting someone back.

Where To Begin?
Firstly, get the basics right. Upload a display pic to your twitter account. That goes double for the men! And please no random pictures of nature or celebrities (unless you’re the said celebrity!). People are more comfortable with tweeps with faces, even if they aren’t much to look at! So take a picture of your best side and upload.
Fill out your profile. When you meet someone for the first time, do you simply expect that someone to start talking to you? No, you need an ice-breaker, something that lets them get (and more importantly gets you as well) comfortable and relaxed. Throw in some random gyaan, some quirky one-liner or simply write something about yourself. But please don’t copy paste some stupid Muhawra!
Location, Location, location. As in real estate, this fundamental principle applies to your Bio as well. You don't need to get real specific with the latitudes and longitudes, but a simple City or Country name sure helps tweeps to engage in relevant conversation with you.

I Have An Identity!
OKay so your Bio is respectable, you have your best picture uploaded and people can see what city has the misfortune of calling you its inhabitant. But that doesn’t mean you’re all set to get a huge following, unless you are @sachin_rt!
Nope twitter is all about engaging with other tweeps. Follow interesting tweeps and reply or retweet their tweets. Since following on twitter is far simpler than on facebook, finding and following new tweeps wont be an issue. And if the tweep you’re following hasn’t blocked you, you’re free to reply or retweet that person.
Don't lose heart if someome you followed doesnt follow you back instantly. Give it time, let the tweep see your tweets, your retweets and build a realionship. Lets face it, you don't go to second base on the first date, do you!
Another thing to remember is that when you begin following someone new, Tweet about it with a mention of the said tweep. If there was a specific reason you chose to follow that someone, state that as well for a more meaningful tweet. 9 times out of 10, these tweets guarantee an automatic follow.

I Wanna Tweet Now...
For god’s sake, unless you’re stuck in some twister or being roasted by the sun, do NOT tweet about the weather everyday! Once in a blue moon, when the weather IS pleasant, go ahead tweet about it, but don’t be twitter’s unsponsored weather channel!
Tweeting about current topics is a big Yes. After all, many news flashes spread across twitter before they hit the mainstream news channels. So go ahead be the next Woodward and Bernstein!
I find twitter a great way to relieve stress. So if you’re pissed, angry or simply mind-fcuked, go ahead tweet that emotion and let it soar in cyberspace. Trust me, these are the tweets that grab the most attention. So you’ll benefit with your grief!

Finally, remember its not just about the quantity, its ALSO about quality. No use getting 1000 followers if more than 30 percent are bots/spammers/internet marketers. Engage with real tweeps and you’ll have plenty to tweet about.

I’ve been on twitter for over a year now, but really started using it about 8-9 months ago. Following these simple rules I’ve had the pleasure of befriending many interesting and insightful tweeps. And I’m sure will continue to do so in the future.

Like a fellow tweep once tweeted -

Facebook is filled with people you knew in high school

Twitter is filled with people you wished you knew in high school

This post is part of the Twitter Critter series. Click to read other related posts.

Apocalypse Now?

No this is not a retro review of the Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen starrer epic flick. Neither is this a sneak peek at the next X-Men production. It is simply a reflection of the events that have transpired over the last few months around us.

In the last quarter alone we had more major earthquakes than we had in the past decade! Massive Heat waves across the globe have rendered numerous unwell and caused sizable fatalities. Conversely severe chills have also spared few. Torrential and untimely rains have ravaged crops, beasts and man. Sandstorms are posing threats in many parts of the globe!

I dont know about you, but these seem like clippings from a doomsday prophecy. Perhaps we are not there yet, but we must take these abnormal climatic conditions as forewarnings. Climate Change is a reality and it IS happening and will continue to transpire unless we take the necessary steps to slow down the effects.

Climate Change policies are always a matter of political debate when brought up. However, the reaction to this issue seldom is productive. Governments around the world act as though paralyzed on this one topic. Yeah lets spend billions of dollars on procuring the latest in military and defense systems, but if we need to spend a fraction of that on climate change policies and all of sudden the powers that be make a puppy dogged face and act as though there isn’t enough moolah.

I am not one to believe in prophecies of doomsday or stories of Armageddon and Judgment Day. But yes, what is happening around us, to our planet and in effect us, is a tell-tale sign of our neglect and apathy towards our true mother, Mother Earth - Gaia. This Mother’s Day, let’s remember to be kind to Gaia and do our bit as good sons and daughters.

Be gentle with her, for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

All About Eve

The Book of Genesis of The Bible, states that the first man and woman created by God, were Adam & Eve. Blessed were these immortal creations and they led a happy and free life in the garden of Eden. Their only restriction, never to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the couple succumbed to temptation.

The temptation came first to Eve, the woman, who managed to persuade her male companion. For their sin, the two were banished from the Heavens and cursed with hard labor and pain. Some believe, that the punishment for this Original Sin should be borne by all of Eve's daughters and her daughter's daughters and so on. Meaning, the woman is to be given no importance and should be subjected to all kinds of hardships.

Ask any woman and you're bound to get a long list of the various physical traumas they endure throughout their mortal lives. But the sons of Adam, i.e. the men decided that was not enough punishment for the women folk. So it came to be that the woman in almost every civilization was to be given no post of any importance and be subjected to humiliation and inferiority complex time and again. Thus began the mental trauma that every daughter of Eve has been enduring since times immemorial.

Some of you may argue that this is all in the past. After all, today's woman walks shoulder to shoulder with her fellow man, excels in almost every profession, industry, endeavor as much as any man and has thus come a long way since the days of the Bible. Are you certain?

Take something as trivial as arranged marriages in the Indian society. Although now a crime, the groom's family still insists on some form of 'dowry' from the bride to be and her family. Why? Well after all, the groom is a man, the bread-winner, the king of the castle. This despite the fact that the bride in question is as educated, well-read and probably has the same salary as the groom in question. But still, her gender has already decided her importance in her in-laws house-hold.

India and many other nations in this part of the hemisphere consider the birth of a girl-child a liability. To the extent that until recently female infanticide was an epidemic and governments were forced to take drastic actions to curb this practice. And if you're thinking this is a belief in rural parts, you'd be surprised! Most urban families staunchly believe that a male child is a must to carry on the family name.

For the longest time, the Catholic churches shunned the very idea of a woman priest. The same is true for the temples, mosques, synagogues of other religions. Although today women priests are becoming more common. But even with all the progress and acceptance I doubt I'll ever see a female pope in my lifetime.

Even the entertainment industry is no exception to this practice. Compare the price tags of male and female actors and a stark difference is obvious. The same is true for the life of either gender of actors. You won't find too many forty something female actors romancing young hunks, but the opposite is almost always common! As recent as last week, when the Oscars were announced, in the 82 year history of the Academy awards, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman director to win the coveted award!

Closer home, a battle is raging to pass a bill that would guarantee the reservation of seats in the Parliament and State legislatures for women. Opponents of this have valid justifications but the fact remain that of the 539 seats in the Lok Sabha, a paltry 44 are occupied by the fairer sex. Obviously somewhere we aren't taking the steps to ensure equal opportunity.

So what is that I wish to say. Well in a nutshell, women are still treated a second-class citizens in our society. Whether or not that is correct and should anything be done is a choice I leave to you, the reader.
But just remember this the next time you try to snub a woman - the individual who carried you nine months in her womb, gave birth to you, fed you, let her personal life take a back-seat and treated you as if you were the most important person in the world, was a woman. Would you like it if she was treated as a nobody? Answer this truthfully and you'll have made your choice!

Wishing all the Eves around the world, a Happy Woman's Day!