SpeakBindas.com completes six years on January 30, 2015 – A journey that was not planned

It was January 30, 2009, exactly before six years when the first post – first interview on SpeakBindas.com got live and thus started the unexpected and unplanned journey of SpeakBindas which for many is a blog but for me it is…. Well, I’m still looking for the answer!

Why did I start SpeakBindas?

Idea was simple, to be able to meet more and more people through it, with it. An interview is something that people can’t resist to avoid and meeting new people – famous or otherwise was something I couldn’t resist!

But despite not having skills of a journalist, how could I think about interviewing someone? Well, there was one strong thing with me which was able to match to everything else. It was my ‘passion’. I just followed it and the path was shown to me easily or it sounded so!

I have interviewed both kinds of people – popular and yet to be popular. I have interviewed people through all possible mediums such as video interview, telephonic (audio) interview and e-mail (text) interview.

I was just loving it and hence I was doing it. There were literary no goals or expectation to gain something or reach somewhere. But unknowingly and unwillingly those milestones came in the way such as winning Limca Book of Awards twice for interviewing maximum number of people, getting selected for Rotary’s Group Study Exchange programme to Scotland for a period of one month, wrote five books, got somewhat known in the society, got featured in various media and made some interesting and useful contacts. And honestly speaking I didn’t make much money or in other words didn’t make or couldn’t make to what was possible.

But that was never the target. I have some friends who tell me even today that there are great possibilities of generating revenue from SpeakBindas as it has good number of constant monthly visitors. And yes, one another milestone that I forgot to mention is that through SpeakBindas I had the opportunity to help several people in their professional or personal life. Some NGOs got donors while some business people got business. But that all happened on its own. Of course, efforts were mine according to them. But I consider myself or SpeakBindas as instrumental for the same. Also over the period of time I have received several calls & e-mails saying that they got inspired by particular interview, book or article.

Where does SpeakBindas stand today after a span of six years?

It has 900+ posts in total which includes interviews and articles belonging to different categories with 15,000-20,000 monthly visitors. I have stopped taking interviews for last few months because life has asked for my attention towards other elements of it. Also I don’t have any further book on floor. Somehow I feel like I’m done with it! Not in a way that I’m tired of it but I sense the strong feeling of satisfaction or might have crossed the level 1 of it! May be a quantum jump is awaiting for me! Or may be nothing at all. But it’s for sure that I’m not awaiting for anything at all. In this journey of six years, I have walked few miles from being an unknown person in society and have achieved few crowns that makes it all worthwhile.

While I’m writing this, I wanted to pour my heart out but I’m not sure whether I could do it through this small piece of article. It’s always hard to express what you feel in form of words. And knowing this myself it gives a shock to me sometimes when somebody feels inspired by my efforts! I even receive calls today about the interviews that I had conducted in 2009 and 2010. For them, it’s a fresh event and for me? Well, I don’t remember much about it.

SpeakBindas though has satisfied my social hunger. Of course, it took hardwork to achieve it but it has changed my mindset. In early days of SpeakBindas (2009) I used to get impressed by people and their work. That is not happening anymore. Why? Because, after having met people from different walks of life – famous, normal, poor, rich etc.- I have realized that there is nothing special in anybody! Yes, it may seem special from distance. And I also had the opportunity to become acquainted with famous people, had lunch/dinner with them, spent time travelling with them, heard them sharing their most private stuff… and I felt nothing special in them, not at least things that other people mention about them. I am not trying to kill their social status here but I have felt that there is something common in all of us and we all are same in one or the other way. Seeing somebody as special is nothing but a mistake, an illusion and at best play for mind! Of course, their art and knowledge must be appreciated but not them. Here, I’m talking about human values.

I could’ve made this article visually better by adding photographs and video to it but then I think that what difference it makes?

What now?

There has never been a plan about SpeakBindas. Things have come and gone spontaneously and that phenomenon or that principle remains same.

And yes, I must thank to one and all who shared their love, appreciation and care for SpeakBindas by commenting on its posts, writing me e-mails and giving me calls. So Thank you all very much.