Dear Readers - I owe it all to YOU

Curious Tester was born exactly 1 year ago on this day. I had created a blog page around February 2009 and did not know how to start and where to start. I was pondering over this for quite some time until I came across a blog post 5 Questions for Pradeep Soundararajan on Philk's blog. A few hours later, I got an email from Pradeep as follows:

Hi Parimala,
I found your blog with no posts. No matter how ever short it is, I would want you to consider posting your experiences as a software tester.

One of the important things to consider when you start blogging is - first do it for yourself and if others are reading it, fine.

Pradeep Soundararajan

At the time, Pradeep hardly knew me or so I thought. I was following his blog as a silent reader. I was literally in love with his blog posts. However, I did not know how he got to know about my blog – an empty blog, a blog with no posts on it.

Foray into Blogosphere
I can’t quite describe my experiences in last one year in a single post. I started blogging. I was quite a failure in writing, I must say. However, I wanted to try. I wanted to try because I didn’t want to regret about not trying. I started with a ‘1 post per month’ goal. I did not want to post theory from testing books. I did not want to copy someone. I did not know how to be authentic and original. As long as I liked a blog post, I posted it though it made me very nervous many a times. I even joked to myself 'Pari, nobody is going to read your blog anyway'. This went on for a few months and here I am in front of you.

Side Effects of blogging
Blogging is contagious. I attended Pradeep’s and Michael’s workshops, made it to STC 2009 conference, networked with many testers who were as passionate as me about testing, co-founded Weekend Testing with a group of friends, attended BBST foundations course, got an article published in print for the first time etc. This is what you can see from my blog. A lot happened behind the screens. I realized how poor I was in testing, how pathetic I was in technical knowledge and skills, how hopeless I was in many other skills related to testing (Lateral/Logical thinking, Investigation, Observation, Speaking, Note taking, and Presentation etc).

At times, it was painful to see that my passion for testing was not directly proportional to the quality of testing that I used to do. The good thing is I now know where I am failing (at least some of them). Another good thing is I can work on those areas. All along this journey, there was one person who made the greatest difference to me and my blog. You may know this person for sure. It's YOU!

Token of Thanks
I am really glad that YOU – My Dear Reader made a very
big difference in my journey of learning to be a better tester. Thank you very much
for reading my blog, supporting my work, commenting on my work, criticizing me
and helping me grow. It feels so great to know you care for me, my work and my
writing. Once Again, Thank you very much. I owe it all to YOU.

First Anniversary Gift
Trust me. Blogging is hard. Keeping oneself up to date is hard. Learning is hard. But then, what is easy in life? Take it from me - Nothing comes on a platter. You’ll have to work hard for whatever you want to be in life. You'll also have to work hard for whatever you don’t want to be in life. Think about it.

As a person who is facing many challenges in writing as a blogger and an aspiring writer hoping to write about testing, I am taking every opportunity to write better and express myself. I also want to help fellow colleagues like you to blog (if you are not blogging already). Here I am with a little gift for you – The Fieldstone Method.

If you are a tester cum aspiring blogger, feel free to reach out to me HERE. I am sure you have it in you to make it big in this world – in your own great way.


Happy International Women’s Day,
Thanking You,
Parimala Shankaraiah