#372 Published in Anthology ;Woman We know

Hello all readers,

Wishing you all a very Happy Holi and I've another good news of my work getting published and I'm going to share it on this auspicious day.

Get a copy from here

 

#371 That old painting

That old painting

Painting by Sweta featured in school Magazine

It was during year 2008 and students were asked to submit paintings to be featured as the cover page of the school magazine. The students thought it to be an idea influenced from the movie Taare Zamin Par which received a huge positive response during those days. I and my sister submitted scanned pictures of some of our paintings. We always loved to experiment during school days and our association with painting could be traced back to primary days. Painting was one of such hobbies that provided us utmost satisfaction and inner peace, not to forget it was one of the medium to engage the monkey of my mind. Oh! Yeah readers, there always dwelt a monkey in my mind which was restless, needless to mention its characteristics more. It had to be engaged in some meaningful activities all the time or else it used to get sad! Poor fellow! That’s when I realized I can never stay without hobbies in my life.

Coming back to the story again, one of my sister’s paintings got selected to be featured as the cover page of the magazine. It was during the period of social studies as I vividly remember, other non-selected scanned copies of the paintings were returned to the students. Before those copies of paintings could reach us, those were in the hands of social studies teacher, Sandhya Ma’am. She is a teacher who had been a great source of motivation and inspiration for both of us during our school days at Kendriya Vidyalaya. I always admired her simplified way of teaching which eased the burden of learning the voluminous subject like social studies which comprised of history, political science, geography, disaster management, economics etc. She was an example to me and still she is for the personality she possesses and the positive vibes that she always emanated. The very title of the subject would produce drops of sweat in the foreheads of the students out of anxiety to conquer it. I remember how Ma’am who never let anyone to be with books during Games period.

Sandhya Ma’am always appreciated our efforts which encouraged us to put our best. She enquired if she could keep those copies of paintings with her to which we readily agreed.

 Fast forward to 11^th Mar 2019,

As I have been searching for a topic to write since last many days (I was lil sad about the dormancy of the blog), fortunately this incident provided me one!

Even though I have come along a long way from my school days, evolved over the years through various situations and circumstances that the destiny has put me into, yet I never forget to feel grateful about my teachers who have been integral parts of my golden school days. They have been instrumental in shaping me who I’m today. Days passed and I did not get chance to meet with my teachers (for the reason of staying away from the place of primary education for many years) the connection with them somewhat turned out to be hazy. I’ve been connected to Sandhya Ma’am since last two years. While going through the paintings of her daughter in the page (created by Ma’am) where she consistently posted her achievements, I could do nothing but marvel at the creations of just 6-year-old-child prodigy named Navya. It would certainly not take more minutes for someone to easily make a prediction about the future of her which is going to be miraculously bright.  I was overwhelmed with emotions of those bygone days when I got to see that painting which Ma’am had preserved over so many years! What a touching gesture! I've never ever expected someone to have preserved something over 10 years even after losing contact let alone any teacher. I was so much moved to the extent that I had to confine my expression through this post.

That old painting unleashed uncountable memories from past. We never know how little incidents can trigger to something great that we could have ever imagined. Being able to share something from the memory lane, be with your friend or teacher is something inexplicable as your journey to the memory lane is accompanied with someone you’ve known.

This post is dedicated to all teachers like Sandhya Ma’am who spend every ounce of their effort for the upliftment of students. We shall always be grateful to you for your guidance, love, care and support. Keep blessing us always!   

P.S: It’s that old painting (by my sister,Sweta) in the post that I got from Sandhya Ma’am which was featured in the school Magazine.

©Swati Sarangi

11.03.2019

#370 Anonymous Series on Mirakee

#370 Anonymous Series on Mirakee

Hello Readers,

Here I'm introducing you all to a series entitled Anonymous from my Mirakee account  for this Valentines Week(A collection of short poems and one-liners) .I hope that you all enjoy reading it!

P.S:

You can have a look at other posts of mine in Mirakee by navigating through my account: https://www.mirakee.com/swati7writes

#369 Featured Post in indiblogger

I'm elated to find my poem being featured in this platform. How can I not be excited about the first recognition of this year? May I wish many to achieve in days to come and most importantly let our fingers move incessantly over the keyboard in creating something meaningful to bring a change in atleast one of your lives! With this though , I'm signing out and wishing all readers a happy and enjoyable valentines week ahead!

#368 An ode to my future

Dear future,

I wonder where you will take me to,

I can just hope you to be shining bright,

Just like decorative lights of Diwali’s night.

Every now and then when I think of you,

I try to visualise the best version,

That you will appear to me.

You are like a bridge connecting my present,

And soon will fade into my past,

Sometimes I feel myself to be trapped in.

The cycle of past, present and future; vast,

Then I conclude that you are,

Storing many things special.

When the adversities of present,

Try to intimidate me,

I look into the glorious possibilities,

That you are yet to reveal.

I have many wishes to make,

Are you going to materialise them?

Let me be the one I’ve been born for,

The original and undistorted,

So that I can create a history,

Instead of being a forgotten part of it.

© Swati Sarangi

P.S: Hello Readers! Wishing you a very happy new year.. How have you all been doing? We hope to keep you engaged and entertained in this brand new year through our writing (why not sparing a lil time from personal and professional commitments for those tasks that make us energetic and happy to the core , do I need to say more? It's no other task so dear than writing for us) Untill the next post comes up, keep waiting for it ! :) 

#367 Mother- My motivator

My motivator- My mother

After a gap of about four months, I am here in my arena to fill up the space through my writing. What could be more special to describe the power that motivates and energies you in each and every moment of life? And I feel grateful and blessed to scribble down my thoughts about my mother to come out of writer’s block.

Yes, she is my power booster. I can’t count exactly how many times she has managed to keep my spirit up when I feel down. She is the reason behind my success. She is the one who pushes my hard whenever I find stuck or unable to move. Those phone calls that I used to receive from her at the tough hours always proved to be boon for me. Her unwavering faith on me has always made me believe in “winning is not the ultimate thing, rather than realising the potential to win”. This short description would not suffice to apprise the sacrifices that she has made for me.

Let me strolled down the memory lane of my childhood days. It could have never been a trouble-free time for her to handle both the kids of same age group. Taking care of our needs had always been her priority because we were apple of her eyes. She would have on cloud nine when we both uttered “Bou” (Synonym of mother in Oriya) for the very first time. That day was not too far, when we took admission in nursery. She would have become so desperate to meet us after a span of four hours (that was the total time we spent in nursery in a day in school). Why not? We were separated for her for the first time. But those four hours used to pass like four years for her.  She had developed a keen interest in making us participate in different competitions in school. For her winning had never been a sole aim rather than the desire to participate.  

I did not realise how these childhood days passed like a wink of an eye. I was in distress when I had to shift to hostel to commence another phase of my life.  The very thought of being away from my mother would make me feel pathetic. I was so attached to her that I would have never imagined to stay away from her for long.

Fast forward to present,

I am in my room and felt a strong desire to write something dedicated to my mother. She is a superpower that dragged me near her. My smile always remains intact whenever I meet her. I adore her simplicity and generosity.  

What can I ask more to God when I have discovered his presence in form of my mother.

29.1.2019

SWETA SARANGI

#366 24 hours

   24 hours

As the sun casts its magical spell

Morning wakes up from slumber

From the dream world to reality

Only demands to work with quality.

With a new hope, I begin my day

Pray to God for all strength to persist

With determination towards my goal

That I have set for the day to achieve.

Each hour defines number of challenges

How to assemble courage and move on

Essence of being successful for long turn

Should be our priority despite of anything.

Everything revolves around 24 hours

What comes in, is what shows up as result

But only with the right attitude to furnish

The abilities within us to a great extent.

24 hours is a universal truth

Same for all kinds of life existing here

Then why to waste its component

When you know that it is limited in no.

24 hours consisting of 86400 seconds

Representing endless opportunities

To grab and move ahead restlessly

What sets apart a winner from looser.

Sweta Sarangi

4-8-2018

#365 Two years full of life

Two years full of life

I stood at the entrance with my luggage waiting for the train to reach its destination. And my destination was not so far. I heard a group of passengers insisting me to avoid keeping my luggage close to the door as the luggage could get vanished in no time. It was Dhanbad, so I had to be little careful about it. We all had heard about a place named Wassseypur from the movie “Gangs of Wasseypur”, Dhanbad being close to Wasseypur had a different notion in my mind. But these two years of my stay had managed to subdue all the existing notions quite well.

I stepped out of the train around 3:30 AM and reached the guest house of IIT(ISM) within half an hour. I couldn’t sleep that night as the journey was quite hectic and I had to report to Student Activity center for admission next day around 7:30 in the morning. I reached the venue in time the very next day. Later I realized that I was also among one of the students waiting for their turn to complete the formalities of admission as soon as possible. The arrival of dawn settled down all the formalities and let myself relax so that I could proceed to the allocated hostel for accommodation.

This is how a new phase of life commenced. Opal hostel was like a centroid connecting three main parts of campus such as Central library, canteen and Penman Auditorium. Canteen always came to my rescue when I missed my lunch especially during days of summer. The mess menu had to be mouthwatering and equally tasty when the cooks were from West Bengal. There was an advantage of getting a variety of dishes along with tempting deserts to add on the list.  Grand dinner at the end of every semester was like surprises from Mess authorities with lots of additional dishes and decorations to keep you moving towards Mess before the actual dinner time.

The first year of the postgraduate program was packed with lots of classes and lab sessions which were held in the second half of the day. The interesting thing was to prevent one from falling asleep during the lab hours. As it became quite difficult to resist from taking a nap (maybe of millisecond) during those crucial hours. Submission of assignment and lab records before the deadlines were enough to make us busy for one year and mid-sem and end sem examinations did not let us in peace. Preparation for examinations from notes and books would be fuelled by the idea of scoring a good grade. Celebrating birthdays together was one of the exciting memories followed by throwing parties at the restaurant.

Although returning from home to reach hostel used to be painful yet I would always receive a warm welcome from my friends who would be waiting desperately to discuss what had happened in those days and what I had missed actually. The arena of friendship extended more in the second year with the closure of mess during summer when we had to stay at the hostel for the purpose of the minor project. We created a mini mess with a group of people by ordering food (catering service) for lunch and dinner. This was the best part of the day when we shared some quality time free from project stuff by beating the outdoor scorching heat.

The second year was dedicated to project work which provided a wide angle to the world of research. Research is a systematic way to investigate a specific area of interest by gathering information or relevant facts to come up with some innovation in technology by implementing your ideas. End of the year opened up the door to present my work at different conferences which also boosted up my spirit to move ahead. Remaining five months proved to be very much hectic with a bunch of tasks to be accomplished. Sometimes those hours of anxiety, fear and dilemma of future would make my vision blurred for long. But I always had a group of influential people who would elevate me and kindle a new hope to rise again. Those phone calls from my parents would make me realise my true potential and push me hard to come out of the cobwebs of negativities. But it was like I had to wait for “hard work would pay-off moment” in each venture of life then. Sometimes, my hobbies would accompany me up to a great extent in dealing with the uncertainty of future. When nothing moves according to your plan, just believe that God has a better plan for you. Being a theist, I would chuck out all the possibilities to rise up again by beating the defeats. Sometimes adversities make you explore different versions of yourself by letting you know what extra you can actually do which may not have experienced in past. This season of frustration gripped me for a short span. And the line from PB Shelly’s poetry was applicable in my context as well: “if winter comes, can spring be far behind”. I was successful in unlocking the doors with my placement and higher studies. Success would never have delivered a pleasant effect if you have not experienced failures. And yes, without failure, success is just hypothetical.

Then arrived the most critical point of these two years: when each one of us had to defend his/her Master’s thesis through a presentation. We had already spent many hours at laboratories to conduct experiments and analyse the data. It was just the convenient time to give justice to our work. Everyone would be fired by a series of questions by panel after the presentation that would assess the thesis work. It ended up quite well. Department bided us farewell by arranging a dinner. I am indebted to all the faculties of the department for their generosity and expertise that I received from them that helped me to improve my understanding of important aspects of chemical engineering.

I must say that I am grateful to the almighty for providing me an opportunity to not only taste each and every flavor of these two years so minutely but also strengthen my conviction.

This place was so serene that unknowingly attracted me towards it like a magnet. Destiny always has a better role to play. If I would have not spent two years of my academics here, I would have definitely missed a chance to meet wonderful people and at the same time miss a chance to weave a lot of memories which would always remain in my heart forever. When I browse the folder containing photos captured displaying memories of past, I still feel relieved to come across with so many genuine souls who are not only beautiful by face but beautiful by heart also. Even after being away from the place for the last three months, there is still a sense of connectivity which is invisible.

I would end up this article with a note that, “These two years of journey displayed me  an improved version of myself  and I would always remain indebted to those who encouraged me to move forward.”

Long live my friends!!

Long live IIT(ISM), Dhanbad!!

26-8-2018

SWETA SARANGI

#364 Kerala's CMDRF

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#363 Book Review: A Stoic's Diary

A Stoic’s Diary

Author: Dipanshu Rawal

Genre: Non-fiction (Philosophy/Self-help)

Format: PDF

File Size: 1708KB

Star: 4.5/5 (Self)

Review: It’s a non-fiction book based on the concept of stoicism and ideas associated with it. This 60-page PDF has been segregated into 11 chapters which are short yet interesting. The writer has made sure that he is able to express the main ideas behind this psychological assessment in simple language. The organisation of the chapters is well appreciated.  

 Sharing some of the lines from the book which appealed me the most are;

Emotions create most of the problems while logic solves most of them.

You were a liability to a woman’s body before you opened your eyes on this earth.

The less you expect the more you rise above disappointments and other harmful emotions that render you hopeless.

Past kills you with guilt and future buries you under the pressure of your unfulfilled dreams.

Ask yourself “what worries you the most?”

Instead of replying “I’m good”, “I am fine”, try replying with a big smile, “I’m awesome!”, “I’m great!”,”I’m amazing!”

My experience:  I came across this PDF from one of the fellow writers at Quora and I appreciate the very idea of discussing some of the important aspects which are always taken as granted. This forms the 7^th book of my reading list of goodreads.I feel blessed to have come across this book at the right hour. I liked the simple illustrations that substantiate the subtle ideologies associated with stoicism. I liked the concept of approaching the solutions of the problem through algorithm which paves a way for simplification. I took away the concept of writing down the problem on the paper and working out the solution for it. Even though it’s a book with limited pages yet it encompasses wisdom of many ages and books. No doubt, the writer has done his research well in giving shape to this one. I would certainly recommend it to others who are looking for a way to their problems of life.

©Swati Sarangi

26.07.2018