Wonderful Bloggers I met at #BNLF Mumbai

BNLF being a bloggers' meet, I met many interesting bloggers during the 2 days. Many I had interacted earlier but had never met, few I met again after several years and rest I didn't even know they read my blog. In this post I am giving a quick intro to these wonderful bloggers I met, so that as my blog reader you can take a quick look and read their blogs too, if you find them interesting.

1. Srinidhi TG
For all those of you who thought Shrinidhi is a girl’s name (more on that topic in this post), I present to you another male Srinidhi. Srinidhi TG is more popular in print than online- he has written several books and writes regularly for print media, explaining latest gadgets, technology and social media concepts in simple Kannada. Was one of the first few I met in The Lalit (BNLF venue) and we did try some Cleartrip activities together while waiting for event registration to begin. Nice meeting him in person.

2. Arti: Just like the other Desi blogger we have, Arti also doesn’t like her photo to be made public. So it was very nice getting to see her in person. Arti runs very popular MyYatraDiary and has already been to several parts of the world at her young age. While many fancy calling themselves Solo travelers, I learnt Arti often travels with family.

3. Sujata Tawde: Sujata hasn’t written much comments on my blog and I didn’t know how much she appreciates my blog posts till I met her. She actively praised my work and introduced me to many of her friends. Thanks for the kind words Sujata.

4. Umesh Derebail: Our second meet- Umesh Sir is very active in traveling and various social causes- mainly civil defense. Umesh Sir actively began introducing me as a great blogger to everyone else and I felt embarrassed and had to ask him to tone down (Everyone at the event are great bloggers in their own merit) Had met him several years ago in Bengaluru, so it was nice meeting him again.  (below picture is taken from his own facebook album on the BNLF event)

5. Deepak Amembal: Wanted to meet him since long. Deepak Sir is known online with the term Magic Eye. He has traveled to lots of places on his bullet and is very adventurous despite his age. Last year we were just a few kms apart in Goa but couldn’t meet. So it was nice meeting him in person. Deepak sir said he reads my posts regularly and appreciated my doodh a doodh pani ka pani approach. (being able to list positives and negatives clearly). Thank you sir. Below picture is from his own phone, Rutavi is the lady in picture.

6. Rutavi Mehta: Rutavi runs photokatha.in and works with several tourism boards and brands. Rutavi recently did a cross country ride in Autorikshaw and also attended TBEX conference for travel people in Thailand. She was with us in the Thailand trip in 2014 so it was nice meeting again.

7. Priyanka writing Dalal: Priyanka heads marketing for a Mumbai based startup that is into loan switching (advising borrowers on refinancing etc). But she has done more adventurous things in life- most recent being 1.5 month Europe trip which included 17 days of cycling from Berlin to Copenhagen, with overnight camping in the German country side. I was in Copenhagen when she arrived there, but couldn’t meet here there, as I was off to my weekend trips. Nice meeting her at BNLF and wishing her more such adventures. Check Priyanka's travel blog here.

8. Ananya tales: Ananya runs a fashion blog and promotes various fashion brands. Not my core topic of interest, so didn’t have much to talk- we only exchanged basic pleasantries. She is based in Seattle.

9. Meghana Hassan- We had met during Oyo Rooms activity in Bengaluru. Wasn't aware that she is attending BNLF- she paid a short visit on Day 2 second half. 

10. Anil P:  Met Anil after full 8 hears. Last we had met was in 2007 during Club Mahindra Coorg trip for bloggers. I couldn’t recall his face and he only identified me and initiated the conversation. Anil writes at windyskies and has lots of fan following, though I learnt that he is more busy with other activities of late and blog is not getting as much attention as it should have.

11. Raghava: Raghav works in Hyderabad for an MNC. He has a bit of visual impair but that hasn’t limited his abilities in any way. He runs marathons, reads, writes, tweets like everyone else and even better. Check his site here. Below photo is again lifted from Umesh Sir's facebook album of the event. Had met him in Bengaluru several years ago. He reads my blog and appreciated my work. 

12. Anant V: Anant was one of the first few folks I met at the venue. I couldn't identify him rightaway and he had to introduce himself. He and Umesh sir gave me good company during the two days. Anant runs techdivine.com

13. Srinivas Kulkarni: Srini runs a life filled with travel and adventure. He blogs at Srinistuff.  He helped me a bit to plan Doodhsagar visit last year. It was nice meeting him for the first time after several years of online interaction.

14. Sharmila Rao: She is a dentist based in Goa, actively into various other activities including writing. Couldn't meet her in Goa last year, so it was nice meeting her finally.

15. Gautam Amonkar: Gautam runs two successful blogs- one is Goa on wheels, other is Autosarena. I have contributed few articles to Autosarena. Needless to say he is deep into automobiles and we share a chord there.

16. Kaushal Karkhanis: We had first met in 2008 during webinnovation summit- again in Mumbai. Nice meeting him again. Kaushal runs Exotic Gringo and other consulting work.

17. Richa: Had a very short interaction with her. Richa blogs at Richaroams.com

18. Reshma Narasing: Bengaluru girl Reshma blogs at Solo Globtrotter.com 

The Tata Nano gang-Pragati, Archana, Divsi, Neha
Many people I had met in Pune earlier this year, for Tana Nano event, were there at BNLF.

19. Pragati Bidkar: Pragati blogs at Kamalkitchen.com She has successfully published an eBook (on daal recipes) recently and working on more such activities.

20. Divsi Gupta: Divsi blogs at Quirkywanderer.com,we talked a bit about upcoming travel and other aspects of blogging.

21. Neha Sharma: Neha blogs at Life needs a holiday, but again not updated since May 2015.

Didn’t click any pictures with these lovely ladies this time at BNLF- a file photo of myself, Divsi and Neha from the Nano drive below. Other lady in the pic, Magali was missing in action at BNLF.

Overall the two days spent at BNLF was totally worth more because of these wonderful bloggers, besides the actual sessions. Many skipped Day 2, else could have talked a bit more. Was hoping to meet few other key bloggers, but they didn't turn up.

Disclaimer: Above list mainly contains bloggers whom I have been reading/interacting online but hadn’t met so far. I have met many other bloggers for very short conversations at the BNLF event but couldn’t list everyone in this post, as I my memory is not helping me beyond a limit to recall all the names and their blog details. Please don’t mind if you are left out.

If you are reading my blog regularly, do leave a comment once in a while or let me know through other channels. Else I will not know that you are reading my posts and I will not be able to reciprocate or appreciate your readership in some way.

Similar: Travel Bloggers I met in 2014 * List of top sites listing top bloggers *