Jen's Home on the Net

How old are you?
27

When did you start your site?
1997

Occupation - What kind of work do you do?
Social Work

Hobbies - What do you like to do, besides keep this site?
Read books on religion, novels, India, travel, e-mail, travel, be with family and friends, watch Tamil films, learn ethnic coooking, yoga, walking, biking, arts and crafts

from New York State, in NY State now

Why did you start writing your Web site?
I began it for a project in a college course

What is your site about?
My site is mostly about India. I have travelled to India twice and lived in India for two years while a matriculated student in Madras Christian College. I also put my other travels (Oman, Malaysia, Canada, US places) and family and friends photos. I want to add more on books, articles, and other various interests.

Why do you write a site about your interest or hobby?
I find that I can help others to know about India in a non-biased way.

Do you communicate with readers of your site?
Yes. I keep a guest book and have my email ID on it and I try my best to reply to each person who writes, whether it be comment or criticism.

How much email feedback to you receive from your site? Is it mainly positive or negative?
Mostly positive. I think people find my site mostly with key words travel to India, Hinduism, Diwali. So they want to be there, but several end up here that don't agree with everything on my site. I do have a disclaimer on my site stating I can't satisfy all!

Yes! I made very close friends.

Has your motivation changed over time?
Yes. It has become more.

How has it changed your life?
I have met my best friend through my site, and have travelled to meet friends met through my site. I also have learned a lot about other countries.

Do your friends and family know you keep this site/read it? If so have you had any really negative experiences as a result? If not why?
My family and friends know. They are not as web savvy as I, so I have taken printouts of all my pages and they see it this way, mostly.

How has your Web site benefited you? Your friends? Or total strangers?
Many people have learned about the Hindu festival Diwali through my site, been inspired to visit India, esp Chennai, through my site, or have come to learn how they can learn Tamil or other various Indian languages. People of mixed union also visit my site to see the Hindu Mixed marriages page and have met other couples in similiar situations.

If you had to do it over again from the beginning, what would you change?
Yes. I would do it again. I guess I would change the initial unorganized outlook I had to my site. I just kept adding without organization- due to this only recently I reorganized it all and it seems to work out better for the browsers as well as myself!

What are your favorite things on your site?
The submissions from my browsers is my favorite because I understand others enthusiasm in my site from this. Seconly, my site of pictures of Indian clothes and Myths about India.

When looking at other people's Web sites what do you look for as a viewer?
Good details about the person I am seeing in the site- their name (some do not put this!) about their family, interests, personal life events, journals or essays, photos, feedback

What is "one word" that would describe your site?
INDOPHILE

Because of your site do you consider yourself a Web celebrity, an exhibitionist, a public figure, a writer, an innovator, or something different?
I consider myself a sharer of knowledge.

How do you tackle the mechanics of Web design and how do you deal with your frustrations when you can't do what you envision.
I had learned HTML on my own, but want to know JAVA to do more. But at same time I want my site to be simple and viewable by all. When I am frustrated I search net or through my friends for possible solutions.

Why do you think people are interested in your interest or hobby and what you have to say about it?
I think most people to my site are Indians (people from India) living abroad (outside India). So, I think they want to recapture their home country, feel homesick or want to learn how a foreigner can live adjust and enjoy India.

What compels you to design beautiful pages and to write from the heart (beyond just the usual question of "why write a Web site")?
I like to share my experiences with others.