Chowk@Three: Opening Minds, Winning Hearts

Chowk turns three years old today. A toddler? No. Not yet the wisest, but on its way. Chowk is a dream, which in a click turns to reality. It is an in your face reality that represents the contemporary soul of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. The readers and writers are utilizing Chowk to send clear messages on what they want, who they are, and where they want to go.

The making of Chowk is almost complete – i.e. if the making of a world can ever be complete, what occupies our minds now is how we must sustain Chowk.

Factfile on August 14, 2000

Name [Chowk]

Form [Internet Site]

Foundation [August 14, 1997]

Revenue Model Keep your day job. Chowk needs the money!

Monetary Value - Priceless!

Target Market Everyone who can read, write and think.



Some Stats [excluding Forums and Chats]

Monthly Readers in July 2000 - 85000+

Monthly Readers in August 1997 - 1200+

Peak Visitors in one day - 18000+

Average visitors per day - 2300+

Average Page Hits Per Day - 8300+

Registered Readers - 7500+

People who have visited Chowk - [135000+]

Lurkers [Tens of thousands]


Content Focus [Women’s issues; Economics of the 3rd World; Socioeconomic affairs; Creative Writing; Art and Poetry; Sports; Humor; Science & Technology; Religious Issues; Family and Parenting]


The Chowk Vision

Influence positive change.

Premier outpost for eclectic thought and expression.


Chowk, the name

Chowk denotes an intersection. The name Chowk was specifically chosen for its rich connotations – an intersection, a meeting place, a junction. Chowk is a Town Square.


Mission

Promote the right to express; without fail, without fear.


Chowk Cardinals

1. Be the best in everything we agree to do - content aggregation, content delivery, presentation, editorialization.

2. Create a top class information resource that has commercial as well as educational appeal

3. Electronic and print publishing of content

4. Provide opportunities for talented writers and artists

5. Publish regional content


Publication Criteria

1. There will be no-holds barred as long as the treatment of the topic bears relevance to an issue worthy of discussion. At Chowk reactive work that connects to the holistic and universal aspects will always be welcome.

2. Chowk will be the magazine of choice for thinking and intellectually engaged people world-wide. Chowk will publish informative and well reasoned analytical and creative writings. Simply put: whatever is writ will be writ memorably!

3. Chowk's nooks and corners and thoroughfares will accommodate quality creations on all subjects: historical, biographical, geographical, psychological, metaphysical, clinical, mathematical, religious, prosaic, poetic, sardonic, satirical, sociological, sexual, physical, virtual, mythical...


Chowk Model

Chowk considers itself to be an evolving community rather than a magazine. This overall concept is depicted in the imagery and sections of Chowk. The magazine is simply one element of Chowk - the one that it started with. In essence the word Chowk is expected to identify a region in cyberworld where news, commentaries, opinions and analysis can be found. In due course the other elements of Chowk will gradually evolve from within this community.

A number of readers and writers have enquired more about Chowk through interactions. A brief overview of Chowk is in About Chowk .

Chowk was born on August 14, 1997 in Silicon Valley, California. In 36 months of operation Chowk has seen an exponential growth in its readership and content base. In the latest count there were over 1200 essays, articles and poems that had been published on Chowk. This number does not include the numerous replies that each article has received – at the last count over 33000 replies were on Chowk!. Replies have grown exponentially. Last year ending today, they totaled over 18,000. The replies are accumulated in a chronological fashion along with each article. This unique InterAct feature makes Chowk like a Virtual Internet Community. It is an Open Media of expression rather than a Closed medium—where the readers/writers are co-creators of its reality rather than passive audiences.


The growth of submissions, replies, readers and writers plus the ongoing demands of readers, leads us to explore the future possibilities of Chowk.

Should Chowk Editorialize?

Chowk is an unbiased neutral party. Chowk is a meeting ground, town square, intersection. Chowk cannot have any leanings. All opinions are the function of the virtual co-ordinates or the eco-system that constitutes Chowk, its writers and its contributors. Its editors work like content facilitators rather than controllers. Its leadership goals are to nurture, invite and encourage writers.


Should Chowk separate on the basis of subject, region or readership?

Quality means different things to different people. With the growth of the site, a variety of readers’ needs have to be accommodated.


Chowk's readers have diverse interests and perspectives, which make Chowk all the more fun. But, there are people who would rather their own interests were always present; therefore should Chowk have sub-communities such as religion, Indo-pak, literature etc. tailored for interested readers.

And then what about readers who do not wish to wait in the ever growing queue of articles. Should writers self-post articles? If so, can Chowk guarantee quality and quantity?



In sum, how much should Chowk customize its content? How big should it grow? Should it stay or should it grow?


These questions are huge, there answers cannot be given in minutes, months or millenniums, because the answers lie in the synergy of Chowkwallas.


The answers to these questions lie with Chowks readers and contributors. Chowk is a mini world where your dreams come true at a click. Every time a reader reads, thinks and posts. Every time a writer sits down to write an article. They shape Chowk and the hexagon changes to accommodate the new thought. This is the instant reality of Chowk.


Come write the destiny of Chowk. Help Chowk grow, live and breathe life into dreams we may have forgotten, but which may lie a few words away.