Journey Uninterrupted - The Path. Review on MouthShut Community Center

I am flying 35000 feet over Midwest US on a clear sunny afternoon. From my window seat I can see miles and miles of fields, rolling below. The Ohio river meets with the Mississippi – from up above it all looks so magical.

Amber – the cute flight attendant announces, “The captain has turned off the seat belt sign - you may now move about the aircraft and can start using portable electronics”. Grudgingly I pulled out my laptop as I still had to put the finishing touches to my presentation. While MS Windows was starting up – my mind was wandering – I realized that I am about to reach two milestones on Mouthshut – the completion of one year and my 100th review. I traced back my steps on Mouthshut and how it had influenced my life – and I wanted to dedicate the next two reviews to Mouthshut and its Members. Knowing the limitations of 8000 words and personally I do not like to spill into the comments section – I present before you – my 99th and 100th review – titled Journey Uninterrupted - in two parts.

Amber (Remember her, the cute blond flight attendant): What would you like to drink Sir?

Me: Coke with no ice, please (I hate Ice in Coke – I only like ice in the company of Mr.Walker)

Armed with a glass of coke, I begin tracing back my Moutshut Journey.

Journey Uninterrupted – The Path

Mouthshut is a journey – you are walking along a path – sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes you pause to take rest – but all along you are enjoying the various experiences. On this path – you meet some co-travelers – you strike up a conversation – you exchange notes – friendship blossoms with some of them and the others, you leave behind and trudge along.

Uninterrupted – the genesis of this word is related to Computers. Moutshut is a background process – it is always running with no interruptions – it becomes second nature to you. It has a special place in your waking hours – and sometimes you dream about it. Sounds scary, but it is true.

My journey began on Nov 2,2002 – on a dog day afternoon – I was surfing aimlessly and I got caught – hook, line and sinker.

My first 25 reviews were penned in about 2 months times. The next 25 took only a month. Reaching the 75th review took another 2 months. The last 25 have been very very slow – took almost 7 months. But every moment on this journey is memorable.

The journey begins with registration – you try to establish yourself by choosing a nickname. For many it is just an extension of their personal name or a combination thereof – for some, it means more than that – an identity, a life style, a philosophy. You then start reading reviews – even going to the extent of rating and commenting on some of them. When your comments are read and responded to by the writer – you feel good – somebody is taking the time to read and respond. The habit kicks in – you slowly start getting addicted.

You get the hang of the site – the way it works and become bold enough to write and post your first review. This is an exhilarating experience by itself. For my first review I had chosen the movie review of “Zanjeer” – one of my favorites. This was the first time I was writing a review – was not sure of the reaction. I wanted to choose a catchy title – I brooded a lot and did a lot of word association with zanjeer and its english translation – chain. This took be back to my childhood days of traveling on Indian trains and the ominous looking red chain in every compartment – To Stop Train, Pull Chain – Penalty for misuse – Rs.2000 or three months in jail. My childhood mind was always curious about what would really happen if I pulled – but I never tried it – thankfully – otherwise I would have been rotting in some jail, being somebody’s girlfriend. My first title was “To stop chain, pull train” – I thought that should arouse the curiosity of MS members to pause and read my review. I was proved right – I started getting alerts that my review is being read and rated. The very first comment I received was from Maddy. I was in seventh heaven.

I continued to write for the next three months - mostly on movies and on generic off beat topics – penning my ideas as they flow – and it was a heady phase. It was a never-ending cycle. I write – post – wait for alerts – read comments – reply comments and the cycle continued. On the way – I met fellow travelers – exchanged ideas and made friends.

Mouthsut.com became my homepage. Whenever I had to rent a movie – I referred to the site to get information – same with the various consumer products, books and travel destinations. Google was relegated to second place.

I started recognizing writers and their writing style. There is a vast wealth of information that is being shared – it is like drinking from a fire hydrant. I slowly started building my trust list and was happy to see my name included in other people’s trust list. Au contraire to the general opinion on the uselessness of trust lists, personally I believe in them and have carefully created my list – and so far I have not been proven wrong.

I believe that rating reviews is a responsible task. I take this very seriously and also make it a point to leave appropriate comments. The message is more important than the messenger, however it does help if the messenger is on your trust list.

I have replied to every comment made on my reviews and still have the flag turned on for all my reviews, in case somebody decides to read one of my old reviews and comments on it. The comment section is a self-sustaining vehicle for self-improvement and there is always scope for improvement.

Thank You Mouthshut – Faisal, Aarti and the scores of others who work behind the scenes – for providing this wonderful forum.

And the Journey continues – Uninterrupted.