Young & blogging it!

Raghav Sarma

They're opinionated and know what they're talking about. From writing on golf tournaments to make-up and cars, tweens and teens are out there, registering their presence on the worldwide web.

Teeing off online!
Sanjith Rao (9) tees off with high-profile Internet entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia and blogs about his day on Little Mairpady. In a post on the South Zone Junior Golf Tournament at Thiruvananthapuram last year, he writes, "For breakfast I had idli and sambhar. At 7.30 am we teed-off. My game was good. I took 52 shots (They are known as strokes)." His posts span the gamut from magic tricks, board games, and climbing trees. He loves computers and figures, "in 2 or 3 years I will know everything about programming and I will be able to write my own programs."

Sanjith, a grade 4 student at Bangalore's Shishu Griha Montessori, started the blog, when he was seven. He says, "Nobody in my school knows yet." Does he know what he wants to be once he's older? "Yes, a software engineer."

On a virtual highway
Raghav Sarma (13), a student of New Delhi's Modern School and perhaps the world's youngest automobile blogger, wanted his father to teach him how to drive a car. He obviously refused, but when Raghav wailed, "I know more about cars than you do," he asked him to chronicle it online and prove it. That's how the blog LTD - Licence To Drive began. One month on, Raghav blogs about the F1, hybrid cars and his favourite SUVs. His blog also attracted advertising banners from international automobile biggies.
He says, "I'm too young to know what I want to be in the future, but I like the idea of automobile journalism or even becoming a footballer." His father's friends also take his a dv i c e on what car to buy!

All made up!
"Make-up, make-up and some more make-up... Just a blog with random thoughts, reviews on products and much more from a young make-up addict," states Fathima Abdul Kader's blog Brittu00Present.

The 16-year-old from Paravur, near Ernakulam in Kerala, dreams of getting a degree in literature or journalism, learning the art of make-up or turning fulltime blogger. The writing bug first bit the 11th grader when she started contributing articles for a lifestyle blog to make some extra bucks and finally, set up her own. Her parents are supportive and her brother offers technical support, but she didn't tell her friends for a long time, worried they would "think I was vain". But now, they come to her for tips.

She says, "I mainly get products from online shops and small mineral make-up companies who want their brand to be known t h r o u g h word of mouth. I have never ever been paid to write on my blog and would never do that as it goes against review-blogger ethics." Her dream for her blog? "I want people to see it as a make-up blog for teenage girls by a teenage girl, where I review cheap and good products for girls like me who can't afford high-end products."

Miss, Mr or Mixter?
It's tough being a gay teen in India, and that's probably what drew "Firebolt" to the virtual space. The teen started a self-exploratory blog The Freezing Flames three years ago, aged 16. Says the student of BTech (computer science), "I 'came out' to my parents and they understand. I identify as nothing, neither male nor female. Only my sister and very close friends are aware of the blog. It was my private space."

There's a second blog now - Space of Nothing. Having given up the idea of gender, the pronoun "he" is fine if pushed. The identity remains secret. A quote from the blog, "I hate being called 'Miss' and am not quite used to 'Mister'. The other day, I came across a gender neutral honorific 'Mx' (pronounced Mix or Mixter)... and I'm considering using that if need be." From tweeting about the Delhi earthquake to Durga Puja with cousins and spending vacations in Bangalore, he also reads a lot of queer blogs and is a fan of the "queer" Khaos Komix. His Twitter profile states: "I refuse to conform. I defy your notions of gender and sexuality. You cannot tell me who or what I am. I am me. I dare you to face me."

They can't be ignored and looks like we'll be reading a lot more from them!

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-06/man-woman/30366354_1_blog-hybrid-cars-automobile