30 Mar 2018

#350 The persons behind the curtain

The persons behind the curtain
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If life is a live stage, I’m the actor then my parents are the persons behind the curtains. The world may not recognise these persons behind the curtains yet their contribution can never ever be ignored.
          As mentioned in my previous write ups, I was accompanied by a loving sister when I opened my eyes for the first time in this world. So, I feel lucky for the fact that I was not alone when I arrived in this mortal world. Needless to say, raising twins is one of the toughest challenges of the parenting and Kudos to my parents for their brilliant way of raising us up simultaneously. I would often enquire my mother about the challenges they faced in bringing us up then she would answer this question in a very humble tone that it was their utmost duty. Needless to say that the sacrifices made by both of them were huge. Numerous sleepless nights, unflinching patience, determination and an eagerness to witness our success have been among their strongest traits. Perhaps the profoundness of those character traits was such that it could suppress any sort of lacuna of a middle class joint family. When we were miles away even from the slightest hint of the struggle they did to meet every need of ours, we led a very blissful childhood.
The things which I find right on the part of my parents while raising us are listed below:
1. Treating their children equally
I always appreciate the way we’ve been treated in our family. It’s quite natural to get caught in the fierce war of competition but thanks to their way of upbringing which has never let even slightest touch of jealousy to crop up between us. It’s not easy to meet the requirements of both the children simultaneously (belonging to a middle class family in India) in every sphere but they made it possible through several innumerable and ineffable sacrifices.
2. They taught me the importance of peace
Peace is always an essence of a successful life. No matter whatever one has, how much successful one becomes, if he’s not content or peaceful in his life, every materialistic possession becomes worthless.
3. They taught me to stay grounded and humble in all situations.
Both success and failures are ephemeral. One should not be overwhelmed in both the situations.
4. They taught me the importance of relationship.
One can earn the blessings of elders through one’s own deed only and these blessings act panacea to our problems in life.
The most appealing relationship insight that I’ve learned from my parents is the mutual consultation. Whenever there comes a need of any family decision to be taken, then there’s always a session of mutual consultation between my parents. It happens because the underlying principles are trust and respect for each other’s viewpoints as trust is the building block of any relationship.  This not only increases the effectiveness of decision making as it includes analysing a situation from different perspectives but also strengthens the compatibility existing between them. So, an equality in presenting own opinion is established in this way.They have set a relationship goal for me.

5. They never set any limit on my abilities
They never restricted me to do whatever I wanted to do. I have always given the liberty to do whatever I feel like (obviously I have always been much aware of my limits)
6. They have taught me to value time and money.
Both these entities are very importance in life and should be spent judiciously.
My day starts with the voice of my mother when she makes a call to me by saying “May God bless you”. Every night I retire to bed thinking about hearing her voice the next morning. She's too optimistic about life. She's a devout lady and very dedicated towards her duties. She's my strength, courage and a sanguine outlook for life.
When my faith on myself flickers, my father is the only one up to whom I look for the words of wisdom. The words that flow from his mouth are “Never give up no matter how challenging the situation may become. Always remember that the one who plans and persists, wins in the end. You should always be patient for the right time to come.”It's something that I keep in my mind during tough times.

In short, they are lifelines for me. Without them, I am simply nothing. No matter how much I've caused troubles to them, they readily forget and forgive.
May they live thousand years and thousand lives be inspired by their selfless acts.
May we get the chance to be their children in every birth!
 ©Swati Sarangi
30.03.2018

#349 5th bloganniversary


5th Bloganniversary
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Happy Birthday to one of the fondest things that I possess.

This blog turns out to be 6 years old today after successfully completing 5 years of its existence; 30th Mar 2018; a remarkable day for us ; me and my sister. Both of us have taken a great care in nurturing it the best possible way. This, with time, became the platform for us to voice our thoughts. Over these years, we’ve not only witnessed it evolving but also observed a great change in our perceptions towards almost everything in life. That’s the positive impact that writing has brought to us. Thoughts and emotions are best expressed in the way they are written.

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We’ve been successful enough in winning various competitions in both the platforms; online and offline in the journey of six years. This helped us to create a little recognition in this vast world of blogging in which we were toddlers once. We are indebted to the readers for sharing various encouraging comments for our writing and appreciating this quality, which in turn, has always boosted up our confidence to write from the core of our hearts. Really, nothing feels greater than writing down thoughts and emotions in pristine form. The keyboard of my laptop has never seemed friendlier to me before this journey of blogging. Needless to say this journey of blogging has provided us countless opportunities to contemplate within ourselves and surrounding. It’s journey worth to remember for lifetime!

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Last but not the least, a heartfelt thanks to our readers for support and encouragement, which have acted as rays of sunlight for the growth of this blog.
Hoping to come up with even more soul stirring and heart touching experiences and write ups in days to come, till then keep enjoying life.


Swati Sarangi
19.03.2018

26 Mar 2018

#348 Grabbing wings for the world



Grabbing wings for the world





Travelling is one of the wonderful experiences that one can get in life. It lets one to explore the places that one has never been before. Places have a lot of stories to tell just like people. Not just stories but on visiting them we create a lot of memories. Every time I visit a new place, I wonder about the vastness of this world both in terms of geographical expansion and the experiences that it has to offer to the the travellers. Travelling experiences lead to open mindedness.
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It’s among my obvious desires to be a bird whenever I sit over the terrace and stare at the limitless sky. This sight of a bird spreading its wings with utmost ease in the sky further aggravates my longing to be one of those species. I wish I had a pair of wings to take me to the places instantly where I always want to travel. From this state of desire of mine, it can be inferred that travelling is one those things that I enjoy.

About a month back, when my parents gave me a surprise news to visit my hostel and pick me up, I was thrilled to the level that no one can ever imagine. I spent sleepless nights before their arrival. There was a reason for this overexcited state of happiness of mine. First, I was going to my home after a long and arduous wait of 6 months. Second, my exams were over by then. Third, this time I was not travelling to my home alone like other times but accompanied by my parents. Fourth, we were visiting to different places to create memory. That was the biggest relief to me and I could enjoy my moment. Adding to all these were the visit to Sanchi Stupa and Orchha.  

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Sanchi Stupa is the reflection of Budhhist art and architecture,located at Sanchi town , Madhya Pradesh. It was built by emperor Ashoka of Maurya Dynasty. We reached there during morning time and the chillness of the surrounding was getting diminished by the rays of sunlight that were started to fall on the Earth. The prevalent serenity of that place what captivated me. I started imagining how Buddhist monks used to be meditating at this place. It is considered as one of the oldest stone structures of India having a shape of hemispherical dome. It has been enlisted as a world heritage site in 1989. These Stupas have been surrounded by ornamental gateways on its four sides. This site remains open from sunrise to sun set and I could find some of the foreigners being present there. I could find various statues of Buddha in his meditative sitting posture. What an expression of peace that emanated! I was lost in the moment. I captured many pictures for memories and purchased some of the things being sold at the site as tokens for memory.

Sharing some of the pics I clicked there to preserve it as a part of my memory


On our way back, we visited Orchha. It is one of the tourist places situated in Tikamgarh district of MP. The beautiful fort with windows with a lot of holes reminded me of the days when we travelled Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.Because of the time constraint, we could not explore much as we were already very much tired by then and the scorching heat added fuel to the level of our exhaustion. I did not forget to take few snaps to store them as a part of the memory.
Trips to different places with family and friends are among the most enjoyable moments of my life and when these trips are not pre-planned or secretly made, they make the experience even more worthy. No doubt, travelling has increased my love for this world. I look forward to such trips in near future to include them in the part of my memory.

#BloggerContest

 © Swati Sarangi
25.03.2018
  

19 Mar 2018

#346 Conserving the life saving liquid

Conserving the life saving liquid
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The most life saving liquid on this planet is water. Needless to say that without it, the possibility of life is completely a vague idea. Being a non-renewable resource, its depletion is a major concern for the mankind. A rapid rise in population has resulted in an over exploitation of it. Other causes of it can be global warming and unequal distribution of ground water. If we look at the distribution of water on Earth i.e Hydrosphere, we will find that Less than 3% of the water of Earth is freshwater, an amount that includes polar ice caps, glaciers, groundwater, surface water of rivers and freshwater lakes, and even atmospheric water. However, the amount of freshwater useable by people and other members of the biosphere is less than 0.7% of the total. This relatively small amount of available freshwater is recycled and purified by the action of processes within the hydrologic cycle.. All these reasons invite a need for conserving water.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, a minimum requirement of water for a person is about 5 gal (20 l)per day. This is the minimum amount needed for activities like physiological rehydration, cooking, washing, and other subsistence requirements. This carries a significant risk of developing such water-borne diseases as cholera, dysentery, polio, or typhoid, which kill about 25 million people per year. Both conservation and sanitation are obvious necessities in meeting the huge demand for freshwater.

Of all the freshwater used directly by humans, agricultural irrigation accounts for about 70% of the total. Since irrigation consumes about 70% of the total water, an effective method of conservation of water can be checked by controlling the activities pertaining to irrigation. Water conservation can be defined as a careful and judicious use of water to prolong and better the supply of water. Even though it appears to be in limelight because of the problems mentioned above yet this concept is very old.

Several methods have been proposed in the direction of conserving water such as rain water harvesting, lining water delivery systems with concrete or other impervious materials to minimize loss by leaking during transport, and by using drip-irrigation systems to minimize losses by evaporation, Subsurface irrigationXeriscaping ;or the cultivation of plants requiring little water such as cacti, succulents, and shrubs of semi-desert habitat,desalinize seawater etc

Recently several schemes have been proposed in the direction of conserving water. One of those schemes is scheme Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) formulated by the Union Government to tackle ever-deepening crisis of depleting groundwater level. The objective of scheme is to recharge ground water and create sufficient water storage for agricultural purposes. It also focuses on revival of surface water bodies so that ground water level can be increased, especially in the rural areas. This scheme will help farmers who have been severly affected by the acute shortage of ground water for past several years. Central Ground water board (CGWB) has given permission to Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to develop ground water flow models and preparation of aquifer management plans for parts of Karnataka.
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We , as individuals, should take utmost care in personal sphere to prevent its misuse. We should try to use every drop of it judiciously. Instead of simply throwing away the water when left in the glass after drinking, we can use that to water plants.  Children should be taught not to waste them and use them when in need.We should prevent unnecessary leakage of water through taps and pipes and get them repaired. We should not leave the taps in an opened state when not being used. We should focus on collecting rain water by putting the containers below the sources of dripping water like roofs, terrace etc

Due to population expansion, the natural resources are depleting day by day and unfortunately water is one of them. We should take care to save every drop of this live saving liquid so that we don’t have to face the dearth of it or else the future of our next generation will be at peril.

Initiative by #Livpure #CuttingPaani #IndiChange
https://www.change.org/p/cuttingpaani
#savewater #Livpure #initiative #water


 ©Swati Sarangi
19.03.2018


#345 Book Review : As a man thinketh


As a man thinketh
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Author: James Allen

Genre: Non-fiction

Format: E-book

File Size: 397KB

Star: 4.7/5 (Self)

Review: The book has been divided into seven chapters namely
1. Thought and character
2. Effect of thought on circumstances
3. Effect of thought in health and body
4. Thought and purpose
5. The thought factor in achievement
6. Visions and ideals
7. Serenity

Sharing some of the favourite lines from this book:
·      
  A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
·      
  Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
·       
Man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
·       
Outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.
·      
  In the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err.
·      
  Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
·       
Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being
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A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
·       
The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge and he who encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.
·        
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
·       
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
·      
  Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
·       
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.
·        Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.

My experience:

It’s a small book consisting of 21 pages. Even though it’s concise as compared to other books in the field of non-fiction/self-improvement, it’s something to be treasured for life. It has to be read again and again to absorb the essence hidden in it which should be applied in life to enrich its quality. This book seems to have all answers to the questions that keep troubling me. I feel grateful to have found this book and will certainly look forward to refer it when in doubt.

©Swati Sarangi
19.03.2018

16 Mar 2018

#343 Book Review :Coffee Date


Coffee Date

Author: Saravanan Kumar Murugan

Genre: Fiction

Format: Paperback

No. Of pages: 150

Star: 4.5/5 (Self)

Review: It’s a love story between an IT Techie named Siddhartha Abhimanyu, Sid and movie Director Isha starting over a cup of coffee. The entire story revolves around the backdrop of a corporate world with its own challenges, achievements, success, failure, pressure of meeting the deadline and emergency. Sid being a multifaceted person acts in a short movie directed by Isha with other co-actors and it becomes a great success in YouTube. Amidst all these, their relationship strengthens in due course of time over small fights or misconceptions. Sid decides to marry Isha before flying to USA for official work and does so in a surprise arrangement made by close friends. Life’s plans are not always in agreement with the plans made by us. Isha meets with an accident on a route to her home with her parents but a strong commitment to work sends Sid to USA and the news of Isha recovering from comma leads to a happy ending.

My experience- First of all, I should thank the author for sending me a signed copy of the book and my joy knew no bounds when the novel reached at my doorstep. The length of the individual chapters has been well maintained to engage the readers. Even though the narration is simple yet it is captivating for readers. It engages the readers to read it till the end. There’s a good connection between the chapters and the sequence of chapters has been well maintained.

Kudos to the author for his effort in bringing out this fiction to the market.

©Swati Sarangi
16.03.2018