#79 The Competition

The competition

The battle ground

Lies stretched in front

Obsessed with aspirations

And numerous expectations

Mind dares to confront

The obstacles as challenges

Without a dint of revenge

To compete with the situation.

The denizens of this mortal world

Seem as competitors

Fighting against each other

Oblivious of the stark reality

Thriving unconsciously and

The invisible sheath of envy

That is housed within.

Apparently, the warriors are

We and our thoughts

Clashing each moment

And Creating all chaos

The environ created

Different from

What is existent.

 10.08.2014

Swati Sarangi

#78 Life

Life

An experience is life

Or an ever flowing river

Situations ephemeral

And lessons several

Sometimes strongest are the blows

Proposes the need to look below

And read between the lines

Of those never ending chapters.

What a connection

And weird coincidences

Instances chained

Through invisible linkages

Rise and fall, fall then rise

It’s a series mystified

Coupling the desires

With concrete reality.

A platform offered to everyone

Where roles are played

Without each other’s part

Incomplete will be the act

Bounded in the time frame

Unbounded dream’s train

Running ceaselessly

Without one’s attempt.

Thoughts travel

To empty the emotional wall

Interacting with a mixture

 of opportunities and despair

 Like success and failure

Smiles and tears

All constituting what we call

A part of our share.

25.10.2014

Swati Sarangi 

#77 Individual and Individuality

Individual and Individuality

This post is totally based on the idea of individual from the book entitled complete work of Swami Vivekananda, Volume-2. While reading one of the chapters of this book, I found the paragraph that holds the essence of individuality very convincing and it is the answer to one of the questions that arise frequently in our minds regarding the existence of an individual. This has provoked me to pen down some of my views on this topic.

An individual is a state of being himself. Every individual is different and unique from each other because it is very difficult to find the replica of two persons. An individual is his own master and critic. He is the one who knows himself better than anyone.

‘Individual’ and ‘Individuality’ are two different terms though they may seem to be related. Individuality is being in a state for long without any change or being stagnant for long. Individuality is the Infinity and in other words, it can be considered as the real nature of man. In true sense, it would not be wrong to state that we are not individuals because we keep on changing with respect to situations. We are struggling towards individuality. To make it clearer, this can be exemplified from an instance mentioned here. A thief has the habit of stealing things from people’s house. If he does not continue doing so, he loses his individuality. From a practical point of view, one can’t always retain the same characteristic in all circumstances. Thus he approaches to individuality but can’t attain that.

Practically, it is not feasible to reach Infinity. How can one reach a point which is not defined? Suppose we want to travel Delhi. For that, we have already set the location in our mind. Hence the distance of the place from our home is known. Infinity is something that can never be reached and it is where individuality exists. It is the only condition of being static or stagnant. Any perturbation or turbulence can create no change.

Our own soul or spirit is an individual because it is infinite. It can neither be divided nor be broken into pieces. It is the Real man who is an individual. The apparent man is merely struggling hard to attain the state of being an individual. It is out of the power of common man.

I would like to mention one example where the concept of individuality becomes more convincing and justified. Imagine that there is a screen between you and a group of people. The screen is translucent. So, the picture of people standing on the other side of the screen is vague. Now, a hole is made on the screen. Few faces are now visible. Just enlarge the hole. More faces will be seen prominently. If the hole still continues to grow on the screen, a point will come when the screen won’t even exist. You can directly see the faces of the people. There is no change in their faces. The case is exactly similar to that of the spirit. Everyone’s spirit can be considered as individual because it remains same without any change throughout. It is already perfect and nothing extra is needed to be added to it.  

So, there is an urge to discover yourself and your potential. We generally search a better individual outside regardless of the fact that the perfect individual is just hidden in ourselves. We often pray God to bestow us with qualities of our choice but we don’t realize that the spirit or our own soul is that perfect one. The most important need is to identify the strengths and analyze the shortcomings in such a way that success comes in our way.

Sweta Sarangi

14.10.2014

#76 It's Diwali here.

It’s  Diwali here

The richness of the season

The freshness of air

The scattering of dry leaves

Here, there and everywhere

Over the solid ground

The melodious chanting sound

Of some indigenous birds

Or the exotic ones.

The wandering of free butterflies

I can never catch them

No matter how hard

My hand tries

The fragrance of

Blooming flowers

Spreading and creating

A blissful atmosphere.

With the arrival of festive season

The preparations have

Already begun

A list of various events

Has caught my vision

I want to be a participant

Of numerous events

To showcase my talent.

The open field of an area

So meticulously chosen

To build a Pandal

Decorated with some

Eye catching artefacts.

The carpeted ground

Seems to be glittering with

Colorful floral designs.

The all-stretching blue sky

Being draped by

The vibrant colored

Tent fixed at the periphery

Few small steps put

Leading one to the

Pandal’s foot

Near and close.

Then comes the Puja day

A day of fun filled celebration

And enjoyment, I can say

Goddess’s idol radiating

An invisible divine ray

Attracting the mortals

To that decorated palace.

The night sky gets illumined

With the sparking fireworks

A scene so spectacular

A huge gathering of people

Savoring the brightness of dark sky

And exclaiming over the

Formation of various 

Jeweled patterns.

Oh! Goddess, fill us with

Immense courage and power

So that we are capable of

Fighting with all ordeals

Each moment and every hour

May we drive out the

Thriving social evils

The way you destroyed

The demons and devils.

Swati Sarangi

25.09.2014

P.S:I wish everyone a safe and colorful diwali in advance..  J