Finest Post - February 2009 Winner!

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We herewith present you the Winner of the Finest Post for the month of February....
ahem...that would be a grave mistake, a correction is called for, because, it does matter!
We present the WinnerS for the month of February. They are:


Ms Ansuya and Ms Srama for the thread that they are tending with loving care, English Matters!

Does it matter, I mean the English language, does it really matter? The answer is quite clear to all of us. It does, because that is the language we all are using to greet each other on our IL forum. It is another matter that we add our own ethnic flavor to that greeting! We may say vanakkam, namaste or hello, we may call each other as friend, mami or bhai/behen. Fact is, we are using English to do so. All of us are also aware that English is not the Mother Tongue to most of us. But it is the English language that is connecting us. If I am not wrong, we have some fifteen recognized languages in India. We can all agree that we must include English to that list! Just like there is the British English, American, Australian and African English, we can proudly proclaim we have our own Indian English!

Having said all that, it is nice to know the workings of the English language. Is it 'advice' or 'advise' ? Is it ' I love' or 'I am in love' ? Do I realise or realize? Simple doubts and questions. But how nice is it to tune in to Ansuya's thread "English Matters' and get a clarification.

What is worthy of notice is the passion with which Ansuya conducts this thread. She does it out of pure love for the English language. There is no snobbishness in Ansuya's approach as she explains the intricacies of this quaint language making it a pleasure to interact with her.

No one can clap with one hand! That's where Srama's interaction in this thread is invaluable. Without her participation and input, this thread would not have survived this long and this successfully! Srama, another fan of the English language plays a pivotal role for the sustenance of this thread. If Ansuya has extended her arm and hand to create English Matters, Srama has lent her hand to make that action complete.

We thank both these ladies for introducing and keeping alive the English Matters and creating our own reference corner when we feel a bit lost with the usage of this tricky language or want to add our own thoughts to enhance both the thread and language.

Congratulations Ansuya and Srama !!

Here is the link to the thread:
English Matters

Here are the gifts for the Finest Posters...
Finest Post - February 2009 Winner!

L, SoaringSpirit and Kamla

Dear SabithaK,

Congratulations on being the first to nominate this valuable thread for the FP of the Month.

Just as we at Indusladies were a little perplexed at the trend of nominations stemming almost exclusively from the Snippets forum, you broke the flow with your nomination!!

Let me hasten to add though that it is not the fact that this thread came from a different forum which has made it a winner of the month.....

We at Indusladies are careful not to fall in to any preferences or prejudice. The English Matters became the winner this month because of its valuable factor to our IL. It is innovative, helpful, well presented and conducted. These qualities surely makes it a Winner.

L, Kamla

Dear ansuya and srama,


congratulations on your success!!!!!!!!
you did it.,,,,,,Great .



wishes,

Dear friends,

This month's announcement will not be complete if we do not recognize one outstanding post which has been nominated several times for the FP of the month.

I think this post is unique and heart wrenching. It deserves all our appreciation and respect. I personally pay my respects to it with a standing ovation, so to speak. Yes, this accolade goes to our respected and loved member Sathya for her post, Who has the right to.....?.

She is a special woman whose love for her fellow beings did not dim even at the hour of her greatest loss and sorrow. We speak of Power of Woman, here in this post of Sathya's, I actually see it.

We cannot simply acknowledge it as a Winner of FP of the Month. This post is too big for FP ! It is a lesson to all of us and we learn what dignity and humanity is from it. For that Sathya, we are forever thankful to you.

Thank you so very much for sharing your poignant moments and private thoughts with us and all our prayers and well wishes should see you through your great loss.

With love and regards,
Kamla

Dear friends,

Every time I go through all the nominated posts towards the end of the month, I feel overwhelmed at the quality of the posts produced by our writers and members and feel really insignificant before the lofty ideas and sentiments these posts reflect.

Once again, the month of love was well represented by many odes to love by our members. Be it love for their spouse, elders, nature or pets.

The month started its innocent flight with our feathered brethren brought to us by Sundarusha and Jpatma and ended in a contemplative mood which set us thinking of how insignificant our roles are in this vast world, set to tune by Dhivya Rangarajan and Ojaantrik.

As usual, our queen of words, Devika, enriched the list with three of her posts. MithilaKannan graced the list with two entries. We had first timers like MeVaidehi with two posts, Anaamika and Bramara entering the list of writers to reckon with. Both Oviya and Shanvy made us feel proud to be ILites with their tribute to IL and Sriniketan came in with a little something for us to learn even as Roopapadia kept questioning our intentions!
Our ILites keep proving again and again that we are a lot with heart and we saw four to five posts which were all a tribute to old age and elders.

Before I end this post, I must mention about our male members. They may be few in numbers lost amongst the sea of women power here, but mind you, they make sure we take a good notice of them and how! Our nomination list has been replenished generously by Bhiku(bhai!), Kamalji, Balajee, Uncannybal and Ojaantrik. Now what do we ladies say to that?! Just a huge thank you!

If some of the names have been missed here, it is not intentional and we like to assure all our members that we cherish and respect every nomination, writer and also those who take the trouble and time to nominate and enlighten the ILites of good work done in IL. Thanks to all of you who keep FP rocking.

L, Kamla

Dear Ansuya and Srama

Congratulations for being February 2009 winner. All the best to both of you.

Sabitha Congrats to you also for nominating such a wonderful post.
All the best.

love
viji

My Dear Anusya and Srama,

My heartiest congratulations to you both!

I could not agree with Kamla's annoucement post on all counts regarding the way you both counducted the thread and made it such a valuable learning for all of us here.

Teachers that really make a place in your heart are the ones who impart difficult lessons effortlessly, make the lessons look easy to their students, make the learning fun, challenge students go beyond what they already know and most importantly, they give their students the confidence that no matter what the question, it is never a silly one.

Your thread had all these qualities and more. You made it fun and you welcomed everyone with open arms and made them shed their inhibitions in asking their doubts. The warmth in thread is reflected in the way this thread has progressed to becoming a hugely popular one here.

You deserve all the kudos my dears. Simply superb! Wonderful!

I am sure you will celebrate this win with the people and the things that really matter to you!

Luv,
SS

My dear friends,

Thank you for making our jobs here more challenging and difficult every month. Well, this is probably the only time in my life when I would ask for the challenges to increase with the passing of every month! After all, this means we get to read and enjoy richer posts every month.

And I must admit that you folks here keep Kamla and me VERY challenged. The biggest test that we try to pass every month is the test of good judgement. Well, I can't say that we pass it because you folks will simply not let us! You make it soooooooo hard to announce just one winning post. But at the same time it is sheer pleasure to have this challenge in front of us every month.

Thank you friends for making the FP such a pleasure and an absolute joy for us!

Luv,
SS

Kamla and SoaringSpirit

My thanks and appreciation goes to you, and the other moderators, for choosing English Matters as the February winner of the Finest Post contest.

Kamla, I am very flattered at all the praise you have heaped on me, but one comment did stand out, and that was what you mentioned about a lack of "snobbishness" in our thread. This has been one of my most important goals in starting and maintaining this thread, since tolerance, fairness to all, and equality mean a lot to me personally, both in my life and my interactions here on IL. Luckily for me, it is easy to keep the tone and content of the thread inclusive and civil, and that is largely due to warm personalities and generous natures of all its contributors.

SoaringSpirit, it's not often that teachers get to hear such thoughtful and meaningful feedback, especially when one is dealing with mostly rowdy teenagers! Your words of encouragement and acknowledgement are highly appreciated, but I am also rewarded every day by my very fulfilling interactions with ILites both on English Matters and in other threads here on IL. It has been a pleasure teaching to and learning from such a mature and considerate group.

Iyerviji and Sadhu72

Thank you for the kind congratulatory messages. It has been a pleasure for me to participate in English Matters, and that pleasure is largely due to the lively group of contributors who populate that thread.

Sabitha

Thanks for your nomination. You have very modestly left out your own substantial contributions to English Matters and lavished praise on Srama and me, so I'm going to expose you now as a fellow conspirator! Of course, anyone who has read the thread will know the great effort you put into keeping it going, and the high-quality posts you make that greatly enhance its appeal and depth. Your presence there is highly appreciated!

Srama

As much as everyone else contributes (because ours is a truly interactive thread that relies on contributions from lots of people), you do stand out as a true champion of English Matters! You (together with Indian_Sanju) were instrumental in getting the thread started, and you resuscitated it a few times when it was in danger of slipping into a coma. I have enjoyed your contributions (difficult questions and interesting observations alike!) and more importantly, I appreciated the spirit of camaraderie and inclusiveness with which you have imbued the thread. Thank you for being my partner in some worthwhile crime.