#87 Let there be

Let there be

Let there be a world of peace

Each heart be filled with

Kindness, benevolence and mercy

Let the brotherhood spread

On the cutting edge of humanity

Across the prevalent geographical borders.

Let not the innocence be snatched

Or buried under the unlawful acts

Of rapes, marriage , carnage or slaughter

Let not the tiny hands be found

Away from the shelter of puerile creations

Cleaning the dishes and leftovers

Let there be a world of security

For every man and woman

Let a world of freedom to flourish

And The era of rapes ,ruthless murder,

Atrocities of acid attackers, robbers

And all illegality be vanquished.

Let there be a world of bliss

A place of secularism and sanctity

Let the rays penetrate

Through every crevice of the roadblock

Let’s all pledge on this new year’s day

To make this World a better place …..

28.12.2014

Swati Sarangi

#86 New year resolutions

New Year Resolutions

A fresh and new year is approaching. We all wait eagerly for this day with endless hopes and aspirations. It is a general ideology of people to make resolutions on this day. In most of the cases, resolutions are made keeping in mind those habits that are required to be changed. These are just commitments for oneself in order to get rid of bad habits and replace them with some new ones. In other words, resolutions are statements that our minds frame, to be followed by us in time period which are in contrast to our behavior.

These resolutions are dynamic in nature because these can’t stay for long. Once these are broken, next time another set is formed apparently. It’s obvious to make resolutions but not obvious for one to clutch to those for long. That’s why these are not static. If these are followed strictly, then these can inculcate positive developments in one’s behavior and bring transformations.

Here are listed some resolutions –

1.   Pursue your interest

2.   Eat healthy food

3.   Be more consistent

4.   Be happy

5.    Be grateful

6.   Meditate on yourself

7.   Stop procrastination

8.   Maintain routine

9.   Spend time with family

10.         Be focused

So, don’t wait for any special moment, make resolutions in any hour and day. If possible, stick to those for long. New Year provides just a way to start something new.

I am wishing every reader of this article “A very happy and glorious new year”. May this New Year open up all channels of success and happiness for you and your family and bring new opportunities.

SWETA SARANGI

29.12.2014

#85 Thank You!! :D

Thank You

Thank you everyone for being a part of my journey..

#84 Those who try, never fail

Those who try, never fail

Hari Vansh Rai Bachchan

This poem is one of the most influential poems of Hindi Literature composed by Late Harivansh Rai Bachhan .This is among my favorite poems. This poem was used to be a part of the syllabus of Hindi Literature in my primary classes. Whenever I feel down, the words of this poem fill me with immense enthusiasm. So, I’ve attempted to translate it (keeping the intensity of the original words and their meanings intact).

Leheron se dar kar nauka paar nahin hoti

Boats can’t sail through the sea by fearing the waves

Koshish karne walon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti!

Those who try, never fail.

Nanhi Chinti jab dana lekar chalti hai

When a small ant climbs up the wall

Chadhti deewaron par sau bar phisalti hai

It slips hundred times during its trial

Man ka vishwas ragon mein sahas bharta hai

The determined spirit energizes the body

Chadhkar girna, gir kar chadhna na akharta hai

The process of continuous ascend and descend does not bother it

Aakhir uski mehnet bekaar nahin hoti

Finally, its hard work does not go in vain.

Koshish karne waalon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti

Those who try, never fail.

Dubkiyaan Sindhu mein gotkhar lagata hai

Sea divers dive deep into the sea

Ja ja kar khali haath laut kar aata hai

He returns empty handed many times

Milte nahin sahaj hi moti gehre paani mein

It’s not easy to search for pearls in deep water

Badhta dugna utsaah isi hairani mein

The anxiety for searching doubles his spirit

Muththi uski khari har baar nahin hoti

His fist does not remain empty every time 

Koshish karne waalon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti

Those who try, never fail.

Asphalta ek chunauti hai, ese sweekar karo

Being unsuccessful is a challenge, accept it

Kya kami reh gayi, dekho aur sudhar karo

Look out for your shortcomings and rectify them

Jab tak safal na ho, neend chain ko tyago tum

Untill you are successful, forget everything

Sangharsh ka maidaan chhod kar mat bhaago tum,

Don’t run away from the battle field

Kuchh kiye bina jay-jay  kaar nahin hoti

Nothing comes easy without trying

Koshish karne waalon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti

Those who try, never fail.

18.12.2014

Swati Sarangi

#83 The ultimate abode

The ultimate abode

 The first time I got a chance to embrace hostel life is during my graduation days. I’ve a number of experiences associated with it. Reflecting back to those days, when my parents dropped me at new shelter for the sake of attainment of educational qualification, I was filled with tears symbolizing the grief of separation. I had never imagined then that I would later start to appreciate living in hostel. In four years, I got to stay at two hostels; former presented a bag full of adversities and made me strong enough to survive in all situations reminding me of Charles Darwin’s hypothesis of survival of the fittest. I could conquer some of my fears, the most important being the fear of darkness. How can one be afraid of darkness by dwelling inside it? In other words, the erratic power supply helped me to befriend darkness. Earlier frequent power cuts bothered us but later we could find out that it signaled the commencement of end semester examination. Everything has its own importance let alone the challenges.  The regular crisis of water those days made me value each drop of water even more. The journey from being a junior to senior resulted in a complete transformation in myself for good.

One can enjoy life more when he lowers down his expectations from the surrounding. I learnt this slowly. I had never thought that I would ever be able to stay in that new hostel, but this fortunate thing happened. As student of 3^rd years, our batch along with final year batch got shifted to the newly constructed hostel and my life changed with new roommates. I found them more connecting and it seemed to have happened very quickly. From broken floor to tiled room, blistered wall due to seepage of water to smoothly painted pale coloured wall- everything seemed so magical and I started enjoying every moment. May be it all happened because we ceaselessly struggled in first two years and now was the turn getting the result of our struggle. This new hostel had everything that a hostel, in general, should have and the most important room being the Conference room with the provision of power supply during outage from inverter. Other good things such as better connectivity, cleanliness in maintenance, proper lighting facility, and delicious meal made each student contendent. I started to revert back to my old form which I had lost in initial years. I started enjoying my hobbies such as writing, painting and singing. The center of attraction for me in that hostel was the view of sun rise and sun set from terrace. How breathtakingly beautiful those scenes were! Oh! I was completely mesmerized. One can very well make out the extent of its influence over me from the frequent mention of terrace thing from other articles of mine. I fall short of adjectives to describe that divinity- at one side the vibrant red colored flag from the apex of the temple seemed touching the sky, other side the calm and serene river flowing endlessly, and another side green open fields beyond the boundary of hostel’s periphery, I would regularly climb up the stairs (with my mobile and ear chord) leading to terrace to spend time by observing the elements of nature. Terrace provided me perfect place for thinking and imagining the limitless, many also felt that the cool breeze, the night sky studded with little twinkling stars, the river side view from the terrace drove away their anxiety and restlessness.

The new hostel brought each batch closer. Our batch (3^rd year) resided in top floor. Each one of us felt the freedom of staying with own batch mates. The mutual interaction brought us close enough to strengthen the bond of friendship. I got to discover many with whom I had a limited interaction earlier. Each one of them was filled with uniqueness- someone was artistic while the other a brilliant dancer, when other impressed me with her non-flickering dedication, other was very confident and eager to learn each moment. The experience of staying in the hostel has made me systematic, self reliant, confident and determined. The incidences such as late night birthday party and celebration, the open dance, hostel functions, stressing over the result of examination, leg pulling of each other, searching for latest Bollywood and Hollywood movies and series( and audio tracks J ) , home theatre, addressing each other by self devised nick names can never be washed away from my memory. Not to forget, I had also managed to gain an appreciable amount of readers for my articles in the non-virtual world, before I publish any article , I always had a set of enthusiastic readers to scan my article thoroughly .All those tiny precious moments have left an indelible print in my mind. The hostel turned out to be an ultimate abode for me as I always looked forward to return back to it as soon as I was away from it.

Swati Sarangi

13.12.2014

#82 Anonymous_A short story

A Short Story

 Anonymous

Winter symbolizes dormancy and dullness. With the arrival of winter, everything seems to have gone into a state of hibernation. Similarly, winter has already entered into the life of Ravi. It has coiled him so hard that he finds it almost impossible to drag himself out of it, despite of his successive attempts. He feels chocked and wants to be in peace forever.

Wearing a black leathered jacket, a denim jeans and a woodland shoe, walks subconsciously Ravi in a state of confusion on the road. It’s only 5’O clock in the evening but it seems to be as late night. That’s because it is a chilly winter evening. There is an eerie silence all around. This silence seems to be killing. Only a few vehicles can be found running on this road and the sound of their horns pierces this prevalent silence. This road, on which he is treading, seems to be deserted. Trees on the road sides are standing still without any movement of leaves. Moon is nowhere to be found on the tar coloured dark sky.

With each step Ravi takes, he thinks about his past, and connects himself to all such memories which are not at all pleasant. He has encountered many ups and downs in his life but this time the level of trauma is gigantically high. Thoughts of his past are haunting him very badly and future is simply unpredictable. It’s just beyond the control of him. He is hopeless and a circle of despair has trapped him. He is not able to search for any alternatives. His own words are resonating in his mind which is in contrast to the silence of the outer world and thus accelerating his heart beats. His brain is now packed up with so many unwanted thoughts, creating a great havoc.

This path leads to seashore and it is one of those spots where a person loves to spend his time with his near and dear ones. This place is the store house of all old past memories of him. It’s one of the favorite spots of him where he hangouts with his friends most of the time.

But for today, it seems to be of no more interest, rather this spot is associated with completion of a big mission of his life and it’s going to be a turning point for him and for all.

He reaches this sea shore, searches for a corner which is secluded. He doesn’t want to be disturbed and prefers to isolate himself from crowd present over there. He sits still on sand and observes those waves minutely, ascending and descending in a systematic manner. Sound of the waves is not striking his ears or he has lost the sensation of hearing temporarily. Nothing seems to interest him today. Those waves once used to fill him with new energy, positivity and passion for life. But he is incapable of drawing any energy from them. These are just meaningless for him, for this moment. He feels as if the lord of ocean wants to embrace him by whispering his name and it’s a better option to surrender him to this battle of life by being lost in the waves of sea forever and ever.  When all sorts of thoughts begin to clash with one another, it becomes very difficult to keep rapport. The case is similar for him as well. Being completely trapped in negativity, overcoming it, is almost impossible.

“Excuse me, do you know where is Amodh Palace?” Asks a girl very softly.

This question breaks the sequence of his thoughts and drags him to the real world. Very hesitatingly and in a meek voice he replies affirmatively.

He turns around to have a look at her; a girl dressed in a light pink gown appears before his eyes. Her face radiates divine glow, eyes are very serene and shining, her curls have fallen over right ear and her simplicity is admirable. Her face resembles some kind of familiarity.

“Hello, I am new to this city and I have just got to know that this palace is located somewhat near this shore. I asked you thinking that you might know. Would you mind helping me reach this place??” she introduces herself to this stranger in order to be helped.

“………Y……yes……, I can show……..” Ravi answers monotonically.

“I guess that you are in some trouble, as your face reflects. May I be any help to you, if you don’t mind sharing your problem with me?” Her voice is now friendlier than before.

There is a pindrop silence for next few minutes and the girl again initiates discussion, “I am Tanisha, I have joined IMS Company yesterday. I am originally from Delhi. I’m not acquainted with most of the places of this city. I asked you thinking that you may have known the place.”

“There is nothing much to know about me. I’m in a state where every moment has ceased, an unfortunate guy struggling very hard to overcome the problems of life.” Said Ravi frustratingly in one go.

“Sometimes adversities get generated to check the ability or enhance tolerance level of a person. Don’t worry, every problem will be solved soon or later. Problems do not stay for long. Just wait patiently for the right moment.” Says Tanisha in order to comfort him.

“Right moment, Huh? I have been searching for a job for last few months and I have also appeared for different interviews but not got selected in any. I’ve got fade up with this life. And this life has got nothing interesting to admire now. Everything has got finished for me, so it’s better to finish myself than to wait for unprecedented moments.” With these words, he shows her discontentment with his life.

“Were you there previously in any job?” Enquires Tanisha.

“Yeah, I was in Axcess Company previously. Due to economic crisis, a lot of employees were fired out and unfortunately I was one of them.” He reveals his problem.

“Ok, I can understand.”

“Until unless I find any job, it is not quite possible on my part to arrange marriage function of my sister. My sister has to wait for my job to start her new life. Alas, I am of no use to anyone……….” Ravi opens up his miseries in front of this stranger who seems to be quite amiable.

“I am sorry to hear these from you. Be hopeful, bad times never stay for long. It’s natural that after very winter, spring comes. So, don’t ever think to lose yourself. Your life is crucial for those who want you so much. You are very fortunate to get surrounded by your loved ones.” Tanisha tries to make the situation in control.

“My life is not so pleasant as well. Recently I have lost one of my relatives. It’s very painful.” She shares her problem as well.

Ravi stares his watch’s dial, then he replies,” Sorry to have wasted your time. I was so busy in narrating my story that I forgot to drop you to your place. I have killed your important time.” Apologies Ravi who unknowingly tells his problems. He did not want to express his trouble. But behavior of this girl, the companionship that she provides, urges him to open up his troubles to this stranger all of a sudden. Now, he feels relieved.

“Let’s move now.” Says girl who stands up quickly.

They start walking, leaving this shore behind. The purpose for which Ravi arrives to this place remains unfulfilled. He gets rid of all the pain and suffering within few minutes of talking. He reverts back to the route he took initially to reach this shore because this palace is situated somewhat near the shore. It’s about 1 km from the shore.

While walking on the road, she gossips a lot with him regarding her interests, latest news, about her family .He feels as if he has already met this girl somewhere before, otherwise how can someone be so frank within limited time? Finally Tanisha reaches her destination. She stops her narration and bids him goodbye. She enters into the gate and suddenly vanishes before the eyes of Ravi . He is completely perplexed. Now, he recapitulates his meeting with this girl in his mind standing in front of the gate of this palace. He tries to recall all those moments once again. But he gets stuck at one point. 

“What is her name?” He asks himself and moves slowly from the point where he stands. The name of this girl fades from his mind and he quests for that now.

It’s like a mystery, meeting a girl at the shore, befriending with her within few minutes, sharing troubles, then accompanying her to her place and suddenly she goes out of sight. “Oh God, was it all magic? She vanished all of a sudden.” He ponders upon.

Now, his mobile beeps. He unconsciously takes that out of his pocket and presses one of the keys.

“Happy birthday to you, Where are you and when are you coming back to home??” Asks Ravi’s sister. She is not at all aware of the step his brother was about to take to end up his life.

“Ahh…..Today is my birthday……Oh….I am near the shore, will be back within few minutes….” Replies Ravi who is surprised at first.

“Come soon, we are waiting for u, otherwise I’ll cut the entire cake, and some surprises are waiting……I’ll not reveal now.” She maintains suspense for him. With these words, conversation is over.

He stares up this sky and finds a shooting star descending. He folds his hands and like all other days, makes some wishes and takes those steps back to his home.

SWETA SARANGI

13.12.2015