The Way Forward for #shair

 #shair

#shair was conceived and started by me in April 2011.

It was immediately seconded and supported by Gaurav Sharma, Mehran Zaidi, Shaiq Khan and Aquib Naved .

By May many others had joined in and it grew from strength to strength. 

From the beginning I made the schedule or asked someone else to make it but it was always posted by me. We never missed a single week come hail or high water. 

Initially I tweeted from my own twitter handle but Then I started the @shairoftheday handle dedicated to posting the schedule and in November the blog.

We all, especially I had lot of free time to nurture it and give it the attention it needed.

We also made rules which I strictly enforced in the beginning but over the years as my own schedule grew busy I just let things grow.

Now some rules need to be revisited as #shair is now ten years old.

So first of all the rules.

1. one rule I was very strict about in beginning and I want to restart. No tagging of more than 2 persons. #shair is a platform to enjoy poetry anf too many tags spoil the verse for readers. We see names not the poets efforts.

2. Also  members should check the proper hashtag on a given topic.

3. No chain tags. If you want to keep your tweets of that day in a chain please do so. But I get constant complaints of 30+ people tagged. Not everyone enjoys a crowded or clogged time line. Only 2 tags. 

4. #shair is for promoting poetry  not self. I know many of us have gained popularity thanks to this forum and I'm glad. But that can be done in other meaningful ways too. So to expect retweets etc is unnecessary. If someone appreciates and RTs that's their prerogative but not their duty. 

5. The @shairoftheday handle & blog is handled exclusively by me. 

This is as far as rules are concerned. Now for the way forward.

Ten years is a long time to sustain any forum, least of all one that is online. I have managed the forum, the members as part of my family. I now take the next step to prevent fatigue.

This is based on feedback, the poll and advise

1. The @shairoftheday handle is handled exclusively by me and as when I get time I  will RT from it if the handle is tagged. But please don't tweet with the expectations of RTS. #shair is for appreciating poetry. 

2. Only 2 tags- no chain tagging

3. Since #shair already celebrates anniversaries of all Hindustani poets we will limit it to just 6 days as earlier

4. We are happy to see that #kavya which grew out of #shair has become big enough to branch off on its own. We will continue to support it and urge all members to do the same but it's time for it to become independent and tweet under it's own handle. We look forward to having you as active members of both groups.

5. Active Members are welcome to send schedules for consideration.

6. Monthly schedules will be posted.

7. We will hold  workshops on Urdu words, rhymes, poetry/ prose writing for budding poets.