SM began four years ago this summer after I wrote the bloggers who I read every day (who were all more accomplished bloggers than I) a hastily constructed email filled with bad grammar (some things never change). Part of it read like this:

Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:05:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: “Abhi ”
Subject: My Fellow Bloggers…
To: “Vinod “, “Manish”, “Anna”

Guys,

I have been thinking something over of late and would like to know your thoughts. This is me thinking out loud so don’t worry at all about saying so if the following doesn’t seem like such a good idea or you are not interested. My brain tends to think faster than I can process it all to see if I am actually making sense.

All of us are bloggers and it seems like we all enjoy it as a hobby apart from our careers. We all have different focuses or perhaps no focus at all :) This past week with the Democratic Convention in the news, and all the talk of the bloggers that have been invited and how much power they seem to have, it got me thinking how there is no widely read news/issues/discussion/politics/random musings source target for South Asian Americans on the web. Sure there are lots of magazines like India Abroad and websites like Rediff, but all of these are “old media,” and so diffuse. They all rely on editorial staffs, deadlines, etc. and are not at all dynamic or interactive. There is none of the freshness that a blog can deliver. Plus, most of them lack the perspective of people that grew up in this country. I am convinced that there exists a vacuum out there on the web just waiting to be filled…

I was thinking “what if” all the most widely read South Asian American bloggers joined forces somehow and created a superblog based on the “Menudo” model. This could be the definitive source for South Asian issues/news/opinion/culture/entertainment etc.

All of the bloggers, guest bloggers, contributors, and administrators in our “Menudo” model have worked really hard over the years. Even our readers and commenters have been quoted by major media for their thoughtful opinions. Today, with the arrival of the email below, all of us can say we have a Macaca in the tent:

Congratulations. The Democratic Convention staff has completed its review of blog credential applications and I’m writing to let you know that your blog will be credentialed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

We’re excited to welcome so many blogs to the Convention (about 3 times as many as 2004). And we know you’re eager to make travel plans for August. We’ll contact you next week with logistical information regarding housing, credential distribution, and other key details. You probably have several questions. Please be patient - as our goal is to distribute this information to all credentialed blogs at the same time.

We did it y’all.

[The full list can be found here]