The end of the road for me on flickr

I'm really sad about it, but that's it I'm afraid. Living in the country that I am, means that sites like Flickr are not permitted, even though one of the two internet service providers was allowing it so far. I've immensely enjoyed using Flickr as a photo sharing site, and have enjoyed even more meeting a wonderful set of friends whose photos I love to see just as much as I love to post my own photos. I really cannot imagine how I will fill the gap, but I really cannot do anything about it.

Since I will not be in this country for the next month, I will be able to freely use the site and I suppose I will really relish it more than you can imagine. The past year has been an amazing experience and my flickr friends have helped me through so much, mostly without them even knowing what was going on in my life. It's been a great way to get away from the issues I have been facing and a great stress relief.

I have come to identify each of my close flickr friends and whenever I see a cup of steaming tea I will think of Archana and Nahal and how effortlessly they are able to create such drama with even the simplest of things, even a simple cup of tea. Ah, but you see, it's so much more than just a "simple" cup of tea for them and my love for tea is definitely owed to both of them. How can I see beautiful ceramic pottery without thinking of Madge, and how I am going to miss Sandy's posts of darling June as she grows. I will miss Chitra and Ashwin's fantastic skill with the camera, at finding magic in just a leaf and a cobweb and in beautiful loving hands so gloriously showcased to an ever-growing fan club.

I will miss my new flickr friend Lakshmi's view of the world, they way she makes even a single flower or a shadow on a cushion into art. I will miss sellinstix fantastic views of Alberqurque, where we find so many similarities to buildings right here. I will miss seeing the spring through Rosy's eyes, as the St Lawrence thaws. I will miss Kay and her amazing vintage finds and Amy's inspiring creativity.

I will miss Anoop's stunning panoramic shots of Kochi and Goa and his witty comments. I will miss KittyKaht's vibrant views of Bombay, Mayuri's quick wit, Shuma's view of London, Shilpa's adorable curly haired daughter, shilpa (silpam's) way with light and shadow, click-n-joy's awesome sunsets and Panache's creativity. I will miss Katja's quietly elegant photos and Leslie's stunning views of the sky and trees that I love so much.

I will miss MsGooner's special brand of silvery bokeh, Leelawadee's heartfelt photos of flowers and the temples of Chiang Mai, Wandering Hermit's stunning shots of snow peaked mountains, rajat's photos of my favorite place in the whole wide world, the beautiful hills of Himachal and so many more.

I suppose now I will focus a bit more on blogging and will catch up with the photos of all those who also have blogs and post photos on their blogs, but I will certainly miss the feeling of home that I had among these and so many more of my friends on this wonderful platform. Thanks to the constant encouragement from all of them, I have progressed to this extent, which is really obvious if you to to my oldest uploaded photos.....actually don't go there, they're really not very good.

I will miss all of these and so many of my other friends whose photos I see on a daily basis, whose comments I get on a daily basis and whose support I will always cherish. Hopefully I will be able to come back one day....who knows when!

Interestingly, I can still see comments on my photos there as I had subscribed to the comment feed via Bloglines! Oh how complex is our Internet world of today, but I do love how it offers so many interesting solutions as well. I could probably try to upload via Big Huge Labs, but it's not just the posting of photos, it's the interaction that's so important.