Indimeet #JodeyDilonKo Zindagi Se

When Zee gave me #Zindagi with #Zeel

It was tough to contain my happiness and hide my emotions when I saw promos of some Pakistani plays on my DTH at prime time. No, I was not dreaming, and neither was it a cable mismatch. The television software giant and pioneer of digital entertainment in India, Zee TV, has yet again revolutionised Indian television and content by bringing a new bouquet of offerings from #SarhadPaar. It is aptly called @Zindagi, which will be going on air from 23rd June 2014.

I was a huge fan of Pakistani plays and binged my heart and soul on the legends like #Tanhaiya, #Ankahi and #DhoopChaon that always shared its sweet smile via the classic videotapes they are stored in. Only I know the Internet bills that I exhausted to watch/download those lovely serials from YouTube and my failed attempts to download from virus-infested Torrent Sites... No more digital Virus, I thought. The only thing that is going to be viral is - Happiness!

I logged on to my computer to know more about Zindagi and the serials they are going to showcase. Guess I was looking for those 3 names that formed my formative years. However, this time the names were new and unfamiliar. They were nonetheless inspiring as always, like- @ZindagiGulzarHai, Aunn Zara, but still unfamiliar, so I took it to my social network to find more and see if I can establish the same "connect" with them that I had with the 3 serials that I mentioned above. I saved the date.

The date is 23rd June 2014

#JodeyDilonKo with Indiblogger

While those 3 Pakistani serials are one of the precious discoveries of my life, how can they remain untouched by another precious find- Indiblogger? Yes, it was then that I received an email from the Indiblogger team announcing an Indimeet. It was not just another Indimeet, and knowing the vivacious team of Indiblogger, you know that none of their meets are just another meet. They are special, and this one was bound to be extra special, of course, for it has that connect which #JedeyDilonKo

The Date 21st June 2014

Venue- Leela, Mumbai

The #JodeyDilonKo meet lived up to its name and helped connect bloggers from 2 different cities- Mumbai and Delhi to come together and celebrate entertainment, the art of storytelling, the art of real entertainment and above all, the art of #JodeyDilonKo across the cities, borders, and lifestyles. Here are a few glimpses of various #JodeyDilonKo moments and memories that the Indimeet created-

#JodeyDilonKo with Bloggers

More than 300 bloggers registered for the meet and came forth on the same platform to meet, greet and Tweet! Bloggers from all walks of life, different genres- whether it is sports, poetry, fashion, Food assimilated in 2 different cities at the same time to have that hearty tête-à-tête with each other and have a glimpse of the cute star #Imran Abbas

#JodeyDilonKo with technology

Distance never matters when two hearts truly care! It was epitomised when Delhi, Mumbai and Karachi got seamlessly connected with each other at the same time and could not just see each other but have a real communication, debate and chat at the same time without any blackouts and interruptions. It felt great to see some known faces and blogger friends like Manjulika, Kriti, Neha and others in attendance.

#JodeyDilonKo with a healthy and rib-tickling debate between #Mumbai vs #Delhi

I guess after #India and #Pakistan [largely for cricket matches], Mumbai V/s Delhi is the most debated about topic among the citizens of India.

Ewww, When Did Delhi Men become Hotter than Mumbai? #Debating Societies. 

#JodeyDilonKo with storytelling and Content Seeding

The meet showcased a few trailers of the upcoming show on Zindagi TV, including the beautiful "Kitne Girahe abhi baaki hai". The promo took my heart away with a perfect blend of symbolic storytelling with words like- "Kitni Girahe kholi maine, Kitni girahe abhi baaki hai..Paaon mein paayal, haath mein kangan, gale mein hansli, kamar bandh" poured a different intensity in my heart with an eye feasting visuals of a woman who symbolised these jewelries with her freedom and voice. Brilliant Creativity!

#JodeyDilonKo with Channel and people behind the Shows

When I watch a beautiful thing, say a show or movie, I always feel like meeting and knowing the talented people behind it who brought that beautiful emotion to me, painstakingly. This meet enabled bloggers to meet and interact with the intellect behind the channel and the show that included the lead actor, scriptwriter, director and executives from ZEEL, like Priyanka Datta [Business head- Zindagi], Vanita Jain [Head of programming], Akash Chawla [marketing head] and Shailja Kejriwal -Chief Creative Head- Special projects. These talent essays show how stereotypes of Saas-Bahu and regressive content on Indian TV need a break. 

#JodeyDilonKo with Handsome @ImranAbbas 

All the females in Pakistan knew Imran Abbas. All the young girls in India knew Imran Abbas. Now, the entire India will know Imran Abbas, the emerging face of Pakistani serials and upcoming Bollywood thriller Creature 3D. Hush Hush, Fatima's younger sister Ameena told me that her sister has a huge crush on him and did a great Internet research on him before coming for the meet. hush-hush, 99% of the female bloggers present at the meet had done that. The 1% residual was me, who just could not take my eyes off this eye candy star and went home and obliged my research :)

#JodeyDilonKo with Music and Roohaniyat

I just told you how good the actor looks, but do you know that he has a voice to die for? He not just looks beautiful, but he sings beautifully too...that too without any studio sync and on the moment singing. He started with an interlude from "Aisa Desh hai tera" from Veer Zara and pulled stops to all heartbeats from this beautiful rendition that he sang from Aashiqui 2. Do not believe the besotted me? Get yourself besotted hearing this-

#JodeyDilonKo with Sultana Aapa, the genius behind +Zindagi Gulzar Hai 

Technology connected bloggers from India with the graceful Sultana Siddiqui, director of the serial in Pakistan. She not just charmingly spoke about the story and character sketch of her serial debuting on Indian Satellite Shores, but also gracefully answered all the questions from bloggers across the cities. She confirmed that one of my characters, "Qabacha", is part of her current series and promised to try bringing the affable Marina Khan soon. Please bring @ShehnazSheikh too, I quipped :)

#JodeyDilonKo with blog and Twitter contest

 Indimeets are always laden with fun and interesting contests, and given its fastest real-time speed and response, Twitter steals the show with photo contests and Tweet contests. I was happy to see many of the known bloggers receive well-deserved prizes for their Twitter entries and last-minute blog posts. A friend even got a MOTO G...how brilliant is that?

#JodeyDilonKo with Wonderful Hosts

Team Indiblogger is a delight to interact with. The reason that Indimeets are so well-organised and well-conducted events is not just one but many. It begins from master blaster Techno geek Renie Ravin to Affable Vineeth, gorgeous Nandita, Sweetheart Swati and ever vivacious, ever spontaneous and one helluva lot of host- Anup Johnson, who is beyond agendas and above real time fun. His impeccable sense of humour and harmless bickering with his co-host, Nihal, in Delhi stole the show.

This and much more made #JodeyDilonKo Indimeet an affair to remember and cherish. While some bloggers won vouchers, bag packs, and some went empty-handed. But none of the bloggers went empty-handed, and that is what #JodeyDilonKo is all about. Isn't it?

I am back home and tuning to my favourite music from Gulam Ali Khan and some gems from Coke Studio, including the songs that Fatima, a fellow blogger, had earlier sent me from these shows. I feel so connected with them now, and they start making much sense than ever.

Indiblogger, you truly have #JodeyDilonKo with Zindagi, Zee haan!

For more glimpses of this event, pl click here

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