#602 Some Realisations!!

Some Realisations

Sharing my experiences of a spiritual journey!

I am a spiritual person. I have been practicing spiritual modalities for the last few years, especially during the first lockdown in 2020. This may be because I felt completely lost and hopeless then, despite having everything in my life.

I was in my top-notch phase.

After COVID-19 hit and everyone started getting quarantined, reality hit hard. I started getting anxious about the future and started questioning my existence and the purpose of life.

A question was quite prominent, which occupied my mind for a long time: WHO AM I?

To find an answer to this question, I would watch multiple videos by preachers and spiritual gurus from different religions. In the end, I would never get a satisfactory answer because they used to answer from their perspective, which never matched mine.

In 2021, a series of events happened that broke me completely and transformed me into a different individual.

I never imagined that I would lose everything at one go: my career, health, peace of mind, and most importantly, my grandmother, with whom I was so deeply attached.

I went into isolation, and this seemed to be a spiral loop of what-ifs, buts, and innumerable questions and scenarios that would haunt me badly at night and snatch away my sleeping hours.

The wound of betrayal and grief was so deep that it would leave me perplexed. I was numb emotionally. It was really strange for me to find that no amount of anything would make me happy then. I was the same girl who would be happy over small things in my childhood days. This continued for days, and later turned to months.

I had no option and left with no energy to cope with these negative thoughts. I managed to come out of the spiral loop after a few months.

When I think about those days, I feel grateful for people who stood beside me unconditionally.

Fast-forwarded to 2026,

I am in my healing journey and path of rediscovery. I joined a program called Inner Engineering on February 15 (during Mahashivratri) by Sadhguru of the Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, in an online mode. I always wanted to attend this program.

I came across the videos of Sadhguru during my M.Tech. days in 2017. I was always drawn to his ideologies, which target the youth of the nation by discussing ideas rationally.

Recently, I have been attending the modules of the courses through lecture videos from the official website. I am going to share my experiences from the program, though I have not completed all the 6 steps.

Realisation 1

In one module, Sadhguru asked the participants to do meditation by closing his/her eyes. Then he instructed them to chant, “I am not my body. I am not my mind” for a few minutes repeatedly.

I started feeling a sense of detachment. If I am neither my body nor my mind, why should I feel anxious or negative about anything? Nothing should bother me at all, not people, society, or situation. It is a better practice to feel calm during a tough time.

Realisation 2

In another module, Sadhguru has asked the participants to close their eyes and be grateful for a few things in their lives. He started giving instructions accordingly.

·      3 most important people in life: Father, Mother, and Sister

·  3 People important to you from your neighbourhood: My paternal uncle, My neighbour Granny, and her cute little 4-year-old grandchild

·      3 People whom you have never met yet but have a positive effect on you: Person1, Person2, Person3

·      3 Animals for whom you feel connected and affectionate: Cows, kittens, and Pigens, whom I feed every morning.

·      3 Plants/Trees you are grateful for: Rose plant(I like red colour roses, which symbolise love), Banana plant of my courtyard, Coconut tree

·      3 non-living things: My laptop (my saviour), my fridge (for storing food), and the kitchen gas where I cook

·      3 Celestial bodies you are grateful for: Sun, Moon, and Earth

After practicing gratitude, I became calmer and more composed.

One realisation hit me very hard that the relatives, my bosses, and colleagues have no place in my life. They don’t even exist in the list of 21 things, which comprises both living and non-living beings. Why should I even keep them in my thoughts at all??

My world has really shrunk to a few people, and I am really grateful that I have meaningful people in my life.

No crowd, no dramas.

Some realisations hit late but hard enough to leave imprints in your heart forever.

Thank you, Sadhguru, for such amazing realisations, and I look forward to sharing more such experiences until I complete the program!!

 

Sweta Sarangi

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
27–03–2026

 

#601 I am an asset to myself!

I Am An Asset To Myself!!

I don’t need anyone’s approval!

 

What is an asset??

According to the Oxford Dictionary, an asset is a person or thing that is useful to someone or something.

Please read it again. The definition itself associates an asset with a person or thing.

Is it true always?

What if you are not accepted by someone? Will you still be considered an asset?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions? If yes, you are not alone in this journey. If not, let’s explore what it exactly means.

Labels

As human beings, we often tag ourselves with certain labels. Those labels may be due to the remarks of your parents, teachers, friends, colleagues, boss, life partners, or anyone residing in your surroundings. Sometimes our past experiences, achievements, or current situations also create imaginary labels in our heads.

Those labels can be both positive and negative. How to check that?? Very easy. The remarks you get from your critics may not always be in your favour. Those can drain your energy, hence negative remarks. Some remarks can make you feel elevated and happy inside. Those are positive remarks.

What if you are not accepted by someone? Will you still be considered an asset?

My answer is YES.

No one is ever born on this earth without a purpose.

No one has the power to make you think that you don’t have any purpose in your life.

Most of the time, we as human beings seek validation in a relationship. The relationship does not always need to be romantic. It can be anything like parent-child, teacher-student, uncle-niece, and so on. When we are not seen, heard, or appreciated in that way, we feel devalued and not worthy of love.

When we try to attach our self-worth to another person’s perspective of us, we lose our originality. The authentic self is lost because it is dependent on someone else’s way of seeing you through their lens.

Apparently, we fall into the trap of appreciation and validation, which can sometimes be daunting as well. Of course, others’ perspective of framing opinion on you is neither in your control nor your responsibility to change.

What can we change then?

We can definitely change the way we think about ourselves, irrespective of others’ opinions. That’s what self-worth is. The more you are aware of your self-worth, the more you can remain calm and composed in any situation because you know that others’ opinions of you are not going to affect you or disturb your mental state in any way.

Working on yourself and your goal is the most difficult thing in the world because it comes with the acceptance that you acknowledge your flaws and you want to improve.

One thing I realise over the years: it requires a lot of patience and courage to change something within you that is stopping you from moving forward.

When you work on yourself with dedication, you start seeing the results. The results may not come overnight, but yes, it comes with some time.

Then confidence builds up within you, and you try to become aware of your self-worth. This awareness helps you set some boundaries between people in a healthy manner.

By following some healing modalities and manifestation rituals over the years, I feel calmness and stability within me. The courage to not accept the opinions of others about you is my takeaway from these daily practices.

Now, the reality has shifted for me, and I am starting to see the people the way they are.

No overthinking, no drama to change their perspective about me.

And this has given me the freedom to live my life on my own terms.

I’m embracing self-love.

I’m showing gratitude towards the adversities that happened in the past.

These compelled me to change something within me, and I could see the transformation.

I am in such a state of mind that I don’t really care whether I’m an asset or a liability in anyone’s life.

I’m an asset to myself. That’s enough for me to end my day.

 

SWETA SARANGI

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

26–05–2026 

#600 13 Years of Blogging!

 

13 Years of Blogging!

And the journey continues

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

My blog has completed its 13th year of existence, and I am so happy about it.

When I started writing and publishing on this blog, I had never imagined that it would continue for so long!

I just took the first step 13 years ago, during my undergraduate years, and the steps of the ladder kept unveiling one after the other as I continued my journey of writing.

I can’t believe my blog is as old as someone who was born in 2013 and would be 13 years old now.

---

Photo by Aliena Roos on Unsplash

My life has been evolving ever since. Blogging was a way of documenting the experiences of my life. I believed that it would give me a chance to look into the circumstances of life more deeply and reflect on the lessons learned from it.

Even though I have not been so regular on my blog lately, I keep writing offline and online on other platforms like a ritual, because writing is like breathing to me.

At the end of the day, when my head feels a bit heavy or uncertainties intimidate me, I find my solace in writing. It’s as if an old dear friend of mine is fondly listening to me.

---

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

A lot has happened over these 13 years, from completing graduation, Master’s, living and working in different cities, forming new connections, getting married, to living an immigrant life in different countries. 

Life showed its different shades while I tried to understand its unsaid rules.

Frequent relocations made me believe that the entire world is my home, and I should try to bloom wherever I am planted.

Amidst all the chaos and uncertainties, one thing remained constant over the years, that’s my inclination towards writing. 

I write a blog anniversary post every year to reflect on my writing journey and life. I find it an honest way to honour the silent companion that has been sticking to me for years through my thick and thin, my dear blog.

My blog is as dear to me as my diary, and my fondness for it has only grown over the years. It’s a public version of my diary, with certain constraints that I manage.

---

Through my blog, I explored different forms of writing, from poetry, essays, short stories, to personal narratives. With each form of writing, I was trying to make myself more comfortable with the unexplored.

I participated in different writing competitions and won some prizes, which made me believe that my words resonated with the jury.

My inspiration for writing doesn’t always come from writing challenges; it comes from observing my life minutely on an everyday basis. That’s because every day carries with it a unique lesson that should not be missed.

---

Photo by Peter Mammitzsch on Unsplash

I’ve been more frequent on Medium than here because I felt that my writing needed readership, and I enjoyed interacting with fellow writers and building connections.

I realised that I neither have enough time nor energy to advertise my blogs on different blogging platforms as I used to do earlier. So, I switched to a more interactive platform.

I thank all my readers who read my scribbles in the form of articles, stories, and poetry, and share their comments.

I have some writing goals I am not actively pursuing, but I visualize finishing them soon.

---

Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash

I will write anyway,
Whether I’m happy or sad,
Living in my own country,
Or leading an immigrant life.

 

I will write anyway,
When the days seemed very heavy,
Pushing me to an abyss or
As smooth as a slice of butter.

 

I will write anyway,
When the sun shines brightly,
Scorching heat parching my soul or
Surviving in minus degrees!

 

I will write anyway,
While looking through the window,
Observing the nature and
Admiring the elements of it.

 

I will write anyway,
Observing my surrounding
For the characters that form
Muses of my stories or poetry.

 

I will write anyway,
While welcoming members into
My family or bidding goodbye
To the parting ones.

 

I will write anyway,
For cherishing the memories
Of bygone days, while
Feeling grateful for them.

 

I will write anyway,
Knowing the fact that
Growing old is inevitable and
The ultimate truth to accept.

 

I will write anyway,
Even when no one is reading it
For all I know, it’s a 
Concoction for my soul.

 

I will write anyway,
For I’ve got a life to live,
Just one life and a thousand dreams
To accomplish in a lifetime.

©All Rights Reserved!
Swati Sarangi
28.03.2026
You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#599 Different Question Papers

 Different Question Papers

Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

I have given many exams, either as a student or as an aspirant, in my life. One thing that I learned from it is that I lost fear of facing them because I followed certain principles and stuck to them till the end.

From an early age, I’ve never lived to impress anyone. So, that never put any pressure on me to go against my principles, which always carried honesty. Think of it as a hereditary trait.

I have always stood against any form of cheating, even if it meant failing in the exam. There had been many instances, especially during midterms during my college days, when almost the entire class would copy and score a decent score when I would struggle to reach that score. All of us knew that we lacked guidance and resources to learn that subject, but I believed that if I put effort into understanding the subject, I could score well.

A poorly performed answer sheet of mine didn’t make me sad, for two reasons. First, I wanted to evaluate my understanding of that subject, which could help me improve. Second, it showed my honesty and level of preparation.

I knew that if I went for shortcuts like copying or resorting to illegal means to score, I might altogether lose the ability to learn. That’s the reason why I could appear for some competitive exams and cleared some rounds, while many of my friends, who relied on scoring through cheating, didn’t dare to even sit for those exams.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and shortcuts are like easy choices, like cheap dopamines offered to us in the form of distractions by social media.

---

Copying during an exam was possible when the question paper was the same, but what about the biggest exam called life, where all of us have been given entirely different question papers? Even your sibling has a different question paper from yours.

Each question paper is unique, and the circumstances that we face in our lives are the questions to be attempted. How we react to those circumstances is our response or answer to the questions.

Here’s an analogy that my mind has found:

Exam → Life
Questions Paper → Challenges
Questions → Circumstances 
Answers → Reactions

Where the result of this exam is decided by the teacher, the one who has designed this question paper. He/She must be higher in the hierarchy of knowledge or experience than us; that’s what makes him/her eligible to set the question paper.

Unlike the exam of college exams, the one who cheats fails in this exam because he is unaware of the fact that everyone’s question paper is different.

The level of difficulty of the questions is the same for everyone, but it appears to be difficult or easy to others based on their perception.

---

Many people think that their life has been full of difficulties or challenges, while others’ pains are manageable for them, but they’re completely unaware of the silent battles that everyone is fighting each day.

While comparing their lives with others, people think that others are in a better position than they are, but while comparing the pain, it’s the opposite thinking; they think they’ve endured more pain in their lives than others.

Let’s talk about the reality. There’s no one whose life is devoid of challenges. All of us have challenges in our lives, and they might not be the same for everyone. One might face financial problems, while others might be unlucky in terms of getting favorable outcomes, and the third person might be dealing with some health issues. Imagine the level of comfort that you can offer to others by showing a bit of empathy instead of thinking that you have won greater battles in your life than they!

The level of difficulty of challenges that one faces in their life increases with age and experience. She/he grows through these difficulties and finds a coping mechanism in the process of facing them.

---

Comparison is the thief of joy — Theodore Roosevelt

The only comparison that can lead us anywhere is comparing with yesterday’s self.

We should ask ourselves, “Am I better than yesterday?” If the answer comes out in affirmation, then you’re on the right track.

©All Rights Reserved!
 Swati Sarangi,
23.09.2025
You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#598 Room No - 432

 Room No - 432

Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025 

It was the day of campus placement, and just like every final year student, Saloni reached the college Auditorium hall in time to attend the sessions of placement drive.

Her diligent preparation made her confident in her knowledge and skill. She could answer every question asked to her satisfactorily.

As expected, when she found her name in the list of selected candidates at the end of the day, she called her parents first to share this news, and all of them were over the moon!

---

There came the day of leaving the city and moving to her workplace. With a heavy heart for leaving her parents and a lot of excitement about her future, Saloni bade goodbye to her parents until they met the next time.

Everything seemed so alluring to her as she looked through the window of her moving cab when it crossed innumerable branded outlets of apparel or footwear.

After around 45 minutes, the cab dropped her in front of a giant gate that was supposed to be her destination. She was amused to witness the largest training center of IT, where she would be enrolled.

Inside that giant gate, beautiful and sophisticated tall buildings lurked. Such a scene was enough to uplift her spirit and trust in her future, which seemed so promising.

---

After completing all the formalities of joining, she was allotted a room, which was a room on the 4th floor, room 432. She tried to recall the familiarity of that number, and to her surprise, her spiritual self recognized it as the frequency of Om.

She perceived it as a sign from the Universe to welcome her into this new venture in her life. The cozy interior of the room gave her a homely feeling. “Wow! A home away from home”, she exclaimed with joy.

---

As the days progressed, so did the stress of the training. She tried to cope with the tasks and assignments that would make her return to her room exhausted until she fully collapsed onto her bed.

Every night, she would feel her roommate entering the room around 11 pm and leave the room early morning. It didn’t create any kind of suspicion in her as the trainees were allowed to use the resources of the training center till midnight.

Upon special requests, some of the training centers would open an hour earlier than usual to prepare for the training exams. So, leaving room early wasn’t something she found unusual in the case of her roommate.

So, Saloni never got a chance to communicate with her roommate. Days passed, and she got even busier with the preparation of the final test. On being requested by her batchmates to know about her roommate, she waited for her during the weekends, but she didn’t come.

Saloni thought that her roommate must be a localite, leaving nearby, who might be visiting her family during weekends.

---

It was the last day of the training session, and job locations were allotted to the trainees. It was the last time the trainees of a batch saw each other; they may or may not have met in the same office.

Saloni wanted to meet her roommate once before leaving the training. She enquired at the administrative block. What shocked her the most was the reply of the guy at the administrative block, who, after searching on his computer, said that room  432 was just assigned to Saloni and no one else.

©All Rights Reserved!
 Swati Sarangi
 12.10.2025

You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#597 Empathy in Relationship

 Empathy in Relationship

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025 

Empathy is an important ingredient of any relationship. Being empathetic means being able to put yourself in the other's shoes. It might sound so easy, but it could be so challenging in the real world, especially when there’s always a comparison with others.

Funnily, a set of people exists who think their life has been full of struggles, while others are always vacationing. They think they’ve won greater battles in their lives than others.

---

Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

To discuss more about empathy, I am reminded of a beautiful story that I read during my school days, and it was one of my favorite stories.

The title of the story was The Letter by Dhumketu. If you had been a student of the CBSE board, you must have read it.

The protagonist was a coachman named Ali, who was a very skilled hunter in his past. After his daughter, Mariyam’s married a soldier and relocated to Punjab with her husband, Ali visited the post office every morning before sunrise to get the letter from her daughter.

Ali’s regular visit to the post office without caring for the adverse weather made him a subject of discussion for the postmaster and other clerks, as he never got a letter from his daughter.

On forseeing his death, Ali handed five gold coins to the clerk of the post office and asked him to deliver the letter of Mariyam to his grave.

Years later, when the Postmaster’s daughter was studying in a different city, and he had to spend sleepless nights waiting for the letter from his daughter to know about her well-being, he realized the pain of Ali, being separated from his daughter.

He decided to amend his ways and hand over the letter to Ali personally, but it was too late.

---

The Letter is not just a story but a scene that applies to today’s scenario too. The difference is that the letter has been replaced by the mobile phone.

One of the viral videos on social media showed the pain of a father's separation after his daughter was married. A lift operator was seen looking at his mobile phone, not a smartphone. When asked by the person in the lift about what he had been doing, he replied that he had been waiting for his married daughter’s call to find out about her well-being after his son-in-law had left for work.

Why do some men, particularly married ones, feel insecure about their wives maintaining a close bond with their fathers? Why does society expect women to distance themselves from their families after marriage?

Just as men have parents who raised them, their wives also have parents who did the same for them. Marriage should be about uniting both families, not prioritizing one while neglecting the woman’s side.

In my opinion, if someone truly loves and respects his/her parents, he/she will respect anyone in his/her parents’ age group, let alone in-laws. If his/her relationship with his/her parents is not healthy, he/she needs to heal it before disrespecting anyone of his/her parents’ age.

---

One never understands the situation of others until he/she is put into the same situation. Until then, others’ situations always appear like a piece of cake to him/her.

Life is a harsh teacher; it will never make its lessons easier until one learns from their mistakes and promises to never repeat them.

Let us be a little kinder or more empathetic today by being observant of our surroundings before life makes us experience what Ali once did, as it did with the Postmaster.

©All Rights Reserved!
Swati Sarangi 
31.10.2025 

You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#596 A Gift of Life

 A Gift of Life

The greatest gift of life is life itself!

                                                    Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash

 

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025 

Part -1

Back to those days of the early 90s, a man, call him A, rushed to the hospital from his office when he got the news that his wife was going into labour.

A’s wife was pregnant with twins. So, the doctor suspected it to be an early delivery or emergency C-section and asked him to buy some necessary stuff from the market.

When A returned to the hospital with all the stuff that he purchased, the doctor informed him that a woman had just been admitted and needed to go through an emergency C-section. While his husband was away managing money, A gave away the stuff he had just bought for his wife's delivery, along with a cash of Rs 800. (Mind the value of Rs 800 in the early 90s)

A was blessed with twins with a normal delivery and no complications, while the lady was blessed with a son, as the doctor informed him.

---

Part — 2

24.08.2025

I came across chilling news of a man carrying his dead newborn child in a bag, which is often used to carry vegetables from the market, and complaining in a police station about the negligence of doctors.

He reported that the doctor refused to admit his wife, as he could not pay the entire medical expense, and they were adamant about not even receiving a fraction of the medical expense on repeated insistence.

As a result of such negligence in the emergency, his child died during his wife’s delivery—shame on such doctors who are devils, not saviours, for such an inhumane act.

Imagine the trauma of losing a child, and adding to that are the rounds of visiting the police station and fighting for justice in a country where the entire system of law and order is a joke!

---

I narrated the above news in Part 2 to my father on a call and got to know about the incident in Part 1. I was so moved to learn that A was my father, as the twins were us, Swati Sarangi and Sweta Sarangi, and my father selflessly gave someone the biggest gift: the gift of life.

That boy, born on that day, must be of our age, unaware of this gift of life that he received from a middle-class man, but with a heart full of compassion and kindness.

For many years of our lives, we unknowingly received immense care, protection from the Almighty and could live a peaceful life away from pretense or unnecessary noise.

Maybe it was for this kindness that my father received a gift of life for himself, having met death so closely and escaped from it by God’s grace, later in his life.

Maybe we were unaware of the blessings as gifts that we received as the return gifts for innumerable instances in our lives, for the kindness that our father showed that day!

© All Rights Reserved!
Swati Sarangi 
26.08.2025 
You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.