Remove Plagiarism -- March 5th

Artists are always being maligned, copied and heartlessly made fun of, their artistic skills taken for granted and not duly appreciated till the world decides to take notice. Now we may not be world class artists but I believe anyone who writes on their own, pulling a thread of imagination from their endless experiences, looks at things differently and presents a new view to the world is an artist. Food Bloggers may be ridiculed but till you can do the same, don't take them for granted.

To present food as a piece of art, to painfully test and write down long lost recipes till now only handed down from mother to daughter and allow future generations to have a chronicle, a handbook is an act of selflessness. We don't have to do what we do,we do not make any money out of this and other than a creative staisfaction, we get nothing.

To put up a website for commercial success, to blatantly copy from a blogger's site or to post material provided by vendors, without verifying their sources and then to hide behind a veil of corporate jargon is an act of selfishness. This is what Yahoo! India has done and you can read about it more here.

It is not the first time, as it has happened before to other bloggers as described here and here. I won't be surprised if my recipes also get copied in the future.

But to see Yahoo! do it is akin to supporting plagiarism and not promoting creativism. With all respect, it is undermining the good faith Yahoo! has developed over the years and it hurts. The next time we accuse a plagiariser, they are sure to retailate using "If Yahoo can do it, so can I". Lead by example and we would look up to you.

In the long held tradition of a co-ordinated March, I too have decided to join the protest coordinated by Inji Pennu or Ginger and Mango and a few others. An apology is the least we expect to redeem our faith in the leaders of the internet movement.