The last several posts have all dealt with, in some way, the rapidly approaching reading which because yours truly now has the engagement party of a very, very old school friend to attend, has been bumped forward by a day. It was scheduled for March 30th and has now been shifted to the evening of March 29th, 2008 (just in case, you forget the year apparently!) which happens to be a Saturday. It was either that or pushing it forward by an entire week, not an option because many people are steadily being confirmed for the event. Including the three standard moderators, we may now have have 7 or 8 other participants bringing it to a total of 10-11 which is great, because we weren’t expecting many. My fellow moderator thought it would be just the three of us; I was a tad more optimistic and hoped for at least 5. I’ve always been good at the guessing game…but wait until we have the event and someone or the other pulls out, then I’ll be terrible at that game!

Meanwhile, the forums are alive and kicking with once established old Orkut members, returning to the Lounge roots and involving themselves in our signature activities–reading, writing, critiquing–which is lovely, because it means the moderators can remain silent on some pieces and they’re still critiqued by other involved members which also means no piece goes unheard.

Unfortunately, we’re holding our reading in the very heart of Islamabad where I battle a vicious disagreement with pollen; so my speaking and/or reading abilities may or may not be impaired. I’ll try to do the least amount of speaking possible, with the possibility of someone reading out my pieces on my behalf becoming almost incumbent. Tragic. But as it is, we’ll see.

Sometime later this week, times, dates and venues will be sent out to the confirmed list of participants and the 29th will hopefully see us, engaged in a stimulating discussion. Looking back over our history, it really is amazing how far this once Orkut based community has come, expanding to a website, forum, e-zine and now first public reading. And as a community we’ve grown as people, maturer writers and commenced friendships outside of the community, but which have been fostered there and nowhere else; and despite all odds, “online” notwithstanding, here we are.

Still standing.

Here’s to Desi Writers Lounge!