I don't usually post emails. However, given the following email – I couldn't help not responding to this. A reader, wrote the following email. Since she/he wasn't courteous enough to give their proper email id, I had to respond through this post, hoping that she/he will provide some feedback later on.
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From: Simran <[email protected]>
'you are a typical mallu....ain't ya? Poor anita had added u'r link stating 'my cousin'. you on the other hand, not even included her in your foodroll, tat explains kinda person u are ...u changed the format ? i think u used to have her link before...i use d to visit either one of u'r blogs to navigate to the other one. btw, the font tat u used for the about page is not looking good...try something else , ok? i know u are mad at me...we mallus usually gets mad , when someone points our mistakes(inlcuding myself)...but how can u not include a sweet soul like anita...i don't know her in person, but i'm an ardent fan of her dishes
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I dont think you need an intro for Annita, she is my cousin. She is an accomplished blogger and I admire her work a lot!
Simran, thank you for your critical email. I appreciate such emails, because they always reveal a way to better ourselves – whether we like it or not.
When we re-designed the site, we moved the foodroll/links to a separate special page https://mariasmenu.com/links – we did this for two purposes, to make navigation simple and to build a food bloggers directory. Whenever I find an interesting blog/site that I wish to revisit, I add it to this directory (and Annitas has always been there!).
Like many readers, I find it a great way of getting around between blogs without having to save bookmarks on the computer. However, we made the directory in such a way that the links rotate, hopefully giving every blogger a chance to be at the top, rather than just alphabetically ordered. Try refreshing that page a couple of times and you will see what I mean.
Last of all, we wish we were typical Mallus – if by that you mean a people with a great culture, risk taking ability, adventurous! However, I think stereotyping mallus as ‘getting mad at people for pointing out their mistakes' and ‘being ungrateful', is not fair. This behaviour depends on the attitude of the individual.
And btw, It would be helpful if you could clarify a bit more about the font??
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Dear Readers/Friends/Bloggers… if I've made a mistake, please point it out – I really appreciate the feedback! If there's something you'd like to see on this site, for recipes… contact me, for site features or related issues… contact my husband! (just kiddin, you can email me! :)
We're not perfect but we will better it over time. Thanks for your attention!
Hi Maria,
I posted a message a few minutes back, i wanted spinach recipes (red cheera) our mothers used to make cheera thoran … cud u add that in your cooking gallery pls … thanks … keep going on with your culinary art , I love it …i used to visit other sites, now i’m sticking to your site as it’s very simple and excellent..
Take care,
Janice
Just one word to describe you Maria- Classy! By all means its a compliment to you parents as well, for raising you with love and respect! Keep up the good work :)
A huge fan,
Sharon.
Hi Sharon,
:) Thanks for your kind words dear. I’m sure appa & amma will be happy to hear your comment.
Hope you are doing good…
Take care,
Maria
Good job in posting the rude anonymous email and ur diplomatic reply to it ;)
You are a sweet and charming blogger but it sure is making some ‘mallus’ go green with envy! Ha ha ha!
You are doing a wonderful job anyways dear with ur simple&lovely recipes, down-to-earth-attitude and a reply for every commentor; so happy blogging and keep posting!!!
Dear Mrs. Sheikh
Thanks for your support & all the kind words :)
We are here to share the recipes we find interesting & we hope that it will be helpful for others. As it is generally said we cannot please everybody, so criticisms like this is a part & parcel of it.
However we appreciate very much that we have the support & encouragement from readers like you.
Cheers
Maria
Hi,thanx for ur marias menu.it did a gud help for me.
@ammu, thanks dear…ya ororutharade oru karyam, enna parayana :)
Oh my dear sis,enthokke kaananam..oro aalkkaarude oru kaaryam…well..keep up ur good work..dnt be discouraged by such junk mails :)
@Anonymus,thanks for the support. We will be redesigning the site soon, so hopefully nobody will have complaints :)Happy to know that you noticed the links page.
@Annita, Now even in my worst nightmares I wont even think of taking your link away :)
@Seena, thanks for dropping in & understanding. Hope you liked the sandwiches :)
@Asha, I guess it’s part and parcel of being a blogger, though it upsets us at times. Thanks for your support.
@Happycook, good to know that you are accessing through the reader as well. Soon we’ll be serving full posts through RSS. Ya, even I feel sorry for such people.
@Tinu, happy to know that you enjoy both our blogs. We are redesigning very soon, so we’ll try our best to put the links in the home page itself.
hi…
to be frank, i too had wondered what happend to ur blog roll…any way i bookmarked both urs n annita’s n thus solved the pblm…i like both ur blogs….
I loved the way you replied to that email.
I am sure it is a pity this simran didn’t shoow the dignity you shows.
I do admire lot of blogger and go to these bloggers place most of the time when here is a new post, but that doesn’t mean i have to add them in my blog roll.
From my short comming i will have to admit i am just pure lazy :-)
but i do add them in my reader si that i can enjoy their new post.
i know u are mad at me…we mallus usually gets mad , when someone points
our mistakes(inlcuding myself)… and about this remark, what the hell is he or she talking about. I do pity her/ him for beeing in a family were they get angry when they are told about their shortcommings.
I dislike people who are rude and insensitive to others, even they are pointing out our “shortcomings”. Glad you took this step to confront her. What we do with our blog is our business, we can always accept suggestions but not bullying.
Keep going Maria, more power to you. I love Annita’s blog too btw! :))
Maria, just came to check your sandwich recipe.. :)
nalla marupadi koduthathu nannayi.. :)
OMG…!!Whats this?
Maria,u ‘ve really given a nice reply to this email..
See Simran,we are not into any kind of competition here and we are not kids..We dont have to play any dirty tricks on each other…
Anyways thanks for your concern…
And Maria,don’t you dare take me out of your blogroll again..!!!grrrr!!! :)
I pity the poor girl who concluded abt u so fast without bothering to find out where the blogrolls link have been updated to..She could notice the about me font n criticize but couldnt see the links page..I totally dislike people who thrive to find out only faults without making an effort to find out..I do visit both annitas n marias and both are quite friendly blogs and do not see any reason to do any dirty tricks against themselves.Being cousins it will only be too obvious that they cant do it to each other..So all i can say abt the person who mailed this was she was trying to disgrace and discourage a young blogger inspite of her stating it as a constructive criticism.And Maria, as u have pointed out i visit annitas mostly from ur site coz it has always been there..and i think maria,u gave a decent reply to an arrogant mail…