#495 Remembering Kuni Jeje

 Remembering Kuni Jeje

Source: Google Images

Recently my memory took me back to the days when Kuni Jeje was a part of it. Before I can write more about him, I’ve got to introduce Kuni Jeje to my readers. In Odia, my mother tongue, Kuni means small/young, Paternal grandfather is regarded as Jeje (pronounced as JJ). So, Kuni Jeje was my Paternal grandfather’s younger brother, my father’s paternal uncle. So, if you combine all the logic of the relationship and their way of addressing, Jeje’s younger brother was whom we referred to as Kuni Jeje.

Kuni Jeje lived in a village which was known as Ramakrishna Pur, located in Cuttack district of Odisha, India while I was raised in a joint family in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He would often visit us with packets of cream biscuits, and savory eatables that we would not generally get to eat along with the harvest from our farms in the village. He would then take us, me and my twin sister, on a walk to nearby grocery stores containing a variety of biscuits, toffees, chocolates, and whatnot. I remember having given my choice to buy Milk Bikis when asked by him and some orange candies while restricting my other desire to buy the entire stock of biscuits in fear of being scolded by my parents. He showered his love, care, and affection on us and we reciprocated it by playing, talking, and narrating activities of the day.

We moved to a different state and could meet him once a year when we would visit Bhubaneswar during our vacation. We would make sure to visit our village, Ramakrishna Pur or if our schedule didn’t permit us to visit our village, Kuni Jeje would visit us with infinite love, affection, and a bagful of our favorite eatables. He attended all the important events in our family. He was present at my engagement and wedding to shower his blessings. The last time I saw him was at my sister’s wedding, but he was frail and needed support to walk. Due to old age, he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and lost his ability to recognize people. We would go to him and make him remember us, to which he would simply smile and acknowledge. I later came to know that he was losing his vision slowly.

I got the news of his demise last year and it was because he fell unconsciously hitting himself when going out to the washroom at night. He would generally call someone to help him with walking, but he didn’t do that night, didn’t know if it was death’s call for him. The last few years of his life were full of health issues, but he faced them boldly and his wish to live never weakened his physical strength. I didn’t get many times to spend with him, but whatever moments I have shared with him, will always stay immortal in my memory, and when I close my eyes to remember him, all I can see is his smiling face.

 

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Swati Sarangi

28.02.2024

#494 Age is just a number

 Age is just a number

Images Source: Google

He says she’s growing older,

And they say so,

Inevitably so are the speakers,

Age is just a number,

You can do wonders,

As long as you’re wide awake

From the deepest slumber.

 

Does it even matter what they say?

If all your senses can help you

In achieving your life’s purpose,

There’s no point counting your days

In the form of age in years

Don’t forget, you are drawn closer

To your deathbed with the

Passage of each day.

 

You can’t stop from growing old,

From letting your age run,

How does it matter what they say?

Aren’t those taunts serving as

Reminders to love yourself a little more,

No matter how old you’ve turned up,

As if for men, their age reverses with years.

 

If sixteen was sweet for them,

So is turning forty, for you,

Or even sixty, for that matter,

With each decade, you’ll discover,

A newer and wiser version of you,

Facing the world with years of experience

And audacity which you might feel,

Within you, that never existed before.

 

Age is just a number,

Number of years of your presence; mortal,

An amalgamation of varied experiences gathered,

Over different situations or circumstances,

And you’ve seen and felt it all,

Not letting your age run isn’t in your control,

Until the day when that

Number will just linger.

 

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Swati Sarangi

13.02.2024

#493 Movie Review : 12th Fail

                                                 12^th Fail 

Source: Google Images

This movie is about a boy named Manoj Sharma, hailing from a small city in Madhya Pradesh, named Chambal (as shown in the movie), who aspires to be an IPS officer, despite having failed in 12^th class. This wish of becoming an IPS officer started forming a serious goal in Manoj’s mind when he met an IPS officer during his 12^th board exam who prevented the malpractices done during the exam, because of which the entire batch failed and had to appear in the exam again next year. When he met DSP officer Dushyant Singh and asked him how to be an officer like him, he said that he had to leave the habit of cheating. The next year, during the 12th board exam, when the entire class cheated and passed the exam with the first division, Manoj wrote the exam with honesty and passed with a 3^rd division. Later, with the same honesty he completed his graduation in Hindi literature and goes to a higher city with the hope and all savings of his grandmother to get guidance through coaching to prepare for MPPSC. On the way, all his money and belongings got robbed by the fellow passenger and he reached his destination empty-handed.

On reaching Bhopal, he found out that the coaching centers were planning to close because of cancellation of the exam. As per the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”, he met an UPSC aspirant on the lunch table who was planning to go to Delhi to get the coaching. He followed him to Delhi, somehow managed to get the accommodation by doing several odd jobs like cleaning toilets, dusting the books and shelves in the library. Through his savings, he joined a reputed coaching center, for the preparation of the Mains, after clearing Prelims through self-preparation in his first attempt. He met Shraddha Joshi on her day of admission to the institute when Shraddha got impressed by Manoj’s performance of clearing Prelims through self-preparation. UPSC preparation tested his patience when he failed in prelims in his next attempt and his friends blamed Shraddha to be the reason behind his failure. The movie ends with a happy note when Manoj cracks the exam by beating all odds and Shraddha also becomes a PCS officer.

I watched this movie on the New Year’s Eve and I am happy that I cancelled all my plans to go out to witness the New Year’s countdown as it was -24⁰C outside.  I loved the character of “Gauri Bhaiya” who was shown helping Manoj selflessly during his last attempt, in all possible ways he could. In this world of casual dating, hookups and breakups, all ambitious men deserve a partner like Shradhha Joshi and vice versa, who support and respect each other’s goals. Having written ESE a couple of times in the past, this movie reminded me of my UPSC preparation days and instilled similar emotions like anxiety, despair, determination, etc. Vikrant Massey, in the lead role, has just nailed it and so is Medha Shankar as a debutant actress. It was great to know that the “Bolo Na” song has been sung by Medha who has also been trained in Indian classical vocal. Such a multi-talented personality she has. From various interviews of Manoj Shama and Shraddha Joshi, I found this couple very mature, humble, and interactive. They words leave such a sense of familiarity that one would feel to have met them in real life.

The movie very beautifully portrays every nuance of the struggle of Manoj Sharma without distracting from the main storyline. Such stories in movies without the display of vulgarity should be encouraged and seen as an inspiration. However, I don’t glorify the idea of relying solely on such a competitive exam like UPSC which comes within 10^th rank of most challenging exams in the world, for success. One should weigh his decision based on the best and worst-case scenarios.

I would rate 9.8/10 to this movie and can recommend anyone to watch it. I might watch it again later.

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Swati Sarangi

11.02.2024

#492 The best gift that I've received

 The best gift that I’ve received

Image Source : Google Images

Life has been great for me, so far, that’s what I can write when I try to reflect on my life through this article. Of course, like everyone’s life, my life has never been devoid of failures, setbacks, disappointments, dissatisfaction, or heartbreaks on professional grounds. Things could’ve been done differently or looked at from a noble perspective (that’s easier said than done), when I am trying to analyze my past, at this point. That’s when I have more dots, from the past, to connect with, in the present time, doesn’t it become a little easier to evaluate my actions?

Life has been kind enough to bestow a lot of gifts on me but let me not forget that each gift came with a certain price of either my own or my family. The best gift that I’ve received is my precious childhood. My father made a crucial decision at the crossroads of his life to move to a faraway place from the comfort of his hometown. I remember that day very clearly, when he got an offer to move to Kanpur, leaving behind his beloved demised maternal grandmother. When the entire family was soaked in the grief of this irreparable loss, he made a huge sacrifice for us, to move to a faraway place, all alone. In earlier years of his office, he battled with dirty office politics of every day, and health issues arising because of that and supported us selflessly. He took us to Kanpur a year after his move, where we started our primary education.

There are several advantages of being able to be brought up in a campus environment of an educational institution and I am lucky to have felt the benefits of that. First, safety is the primary reason. The campus environment was safe for us to explore or cycle. I completed my education till 12^th grade inside the campus and didn’t have to face any issues of safety. Second, the campus was the home to people from diverse cultures. Being an institution at the all-India level, it attracted people from different states, backgrounds, or cultures. My friends, in school, were from different states and it created an awareness and interest to know their culture. Knowledge/Awareness always drives away biases, I feel. In the later years of my life, I was able to befriend people from different states without any judgment or preconceived notions. Third, I got immense motivation from this place and its people who were highly qualified yet humble about their achievements. This pushed me to perform well in academics and I derived immense pleasure in spending time exploring reading and writing. I was always inspired by my peer groups at school who provided an environment for healthy competition. There is no growth without competition. Fourth, I started dreaming of being a part of it and put all my efforts into action. Dreams are important parts of life that drive one towards excellence. In the process of pursuing those dreams, I became sincere and disciplined. Fifth, access to technology. I am talking about the time from 2005-2011, we had access to a landline connection for the internet at home and a desktop computer. I started taking help for academics from various online forums like yahooanswers, goiit, 9math and received useful information. I also spent time playing and exploring different gaming websites like miniclip.

My schools on campus provided enough opportunities to explore other co-curricular activities along with academics like singing, painting, writing, sports, elocution, etc. I was good at academics and developed a keen interest in painting, singing, and writing. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my parents. My father always encouraged me to participate in various competitions and Olympiads and got study material for preparation while my mother took all care not to distract us from academics. She would prepare meals for us, provide extra care during exams, and celebrate each win. I have had wonderful discussions with my father ranging from history to science technologies, career choices, etc.

I believe in destiny now which I didn’t, as a child because I always got favorable results whenever I put sincere efforts until my college days or life after that. It’s when life taught me that it’s not linear, it’s not a bed of roses, not every effort of mine will yield results and I should have the courage to accept whatever it brings on my plate. Life taught me that it will throw curveballs toward me to test my patience and I must face these curveballs boldly for my betterment. I have failed many times in the past but at this point in my life, when I look back, I don’t have any regrets for the chances I took because I tried and failed. I would have failed anyway, had I not taken any chances. I didn’t run away from the battlefield like a coward. I also learned that regret for not trying is heavier than failing. I don’t get demotivated by failures so easily and I make sure to try once more.

I will forever be grateful for these wonderful and glorious memories of my childhood and the people whom I met during this phase of my life as it has helped me to be the person that I am today. My parents not only nurtured my aspirations but ingrained a lot of values in me. They provided me with a thought process to widen my vision and dream. In my opinion, a well-lived life is a life when you can’t recall bad experiences even though there could be many. My heart brims with nothing but a sense of gratitude when I traverse the lanes of my bygone days. Even though half of my dreams remain unfulfilled today as destiny has different plans for me, I am very hopeful about the countless opportunities that life may offer in the future and I am assured of the fact that no effort ever goes in vain. It’s time to end my chains of thoughts here and keep some moments of my childhood to revisit later.

Image Source: Google Images

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Swati Sarangi

09.02.2024   

P.S: This post is a part of #WriteAPageADay2024 #WAPAD2024 written under the prompt “The best gift that you've received”.

#491 Grateful for this Nordic view

Grateful for this Nordic view

Image Source: Click from my mobile

I’m grateful for this Nordic view,

Oh! I shall always be,

As I start my day by sipping

A cup of herbal tea,

By the window of the living room,

Of the building high-rise,

When I look outside,

I only find beauty all around,

As if nature has

Sprinkled some icing sugar

On the dark and bare streets,

The drizzle of snow, so light

Just like feathers floating ceaselessly

Caressing the trees when encountered,

Can’t take my eyes off those

Snow-covered streets when glimmer

Under the faint moonlight.

 

I’m grateful for this Nordic view,

Oh! I shall always be,

When I peep through my window,

To witness the sun going down

The horizon after painting the clear

Blue sky, with colours of elegance

The pinkish tint that the sky gets,

Resembling that of a lipstick,

Or taken from the color palette

Of a seasoned artist,

I enjoy this view as if it’s

The last view my eyes can

Get to store it as an eternal memory.

 

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Swati Sarangi 

03.02.2024

P.S: This post is a part of #WriteAPageADay2024 #WAPAD2024 written under the prompt “Write a poem inspired by the view from your window”.

 

#490 My activities on BlogChatter in 2023

 My activities on BlogChatter in 2023

Source: Google Image

Ever since I stumbled upon this blogging platform, BlogChatter, I haven’t thought much about the topics to write on. It reminded me of my exhaustive writing habit in the past when I used to participate so actively in various competitions hosted on different blogging platforms. If you look at the post counts in my blog during 2016 and 2017, you will find it to be in 3 digits! It even makes me amazed at my ability to jot down my random thoughts to convey certain messages or ideas.

I started participating in activities of BlogChatter in Feb 2023 and it was on 6^th Feb 2023 that I wrote an article on the prompt given in BlogChatter BlogHop. From then, my association with BlogChatter began. I have shared 32 blog posts within a year on that platform. Here’s my profile – Swati Sarangi. I completed some challenges like BlogChatterA2Z and WriteAPageADay and earned beautiful stickers. I received the TOP POST badge for some of my blog posts like On a bus ride home, Test of patience, etc. I contributed to the guest post - 5 ways to maximize your writing potential, which I had always wanted to do. Receiving comments and feedback from fellow writers, mentions about my writeups on different social media like Twitter and LinkedIn encouraged me to put more effort into writing along a full-time professional career.

As the title suggests, I’ve tried to summarize my activities on BlogChatter for the year 2023. I’ve enjoyed this journey with BlogChatter so far and would like to carry it forward.

 

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Swati Sarangi

02.02.2024

#489 Under the magic spell of Ukulele

 Under The Magic Spell of Ukulele

Source : Google Images

New Year Greetings to the readers!

[Why not? The excitement of New Year shouldn’t fade away at this point.]  

It’s the first day of the second month of this year and I am all set to put my foot on this task of writing 10k words before this month ends. I have been putting away my habit of writing for no particular reason, but I am glad that this initiative of Write A Page A Day by BlogChatter will wake my writing spirit up from a deep slumber. Writing is not just a process of typing my thoughts on the keyboard but it’s an act of introspecting my life and surroundings. It reminds me to pause, reflect, collect, and write.

I’ve been a strong believer in the Law of Attraction. Last year, around this time, I pasted some cut-outs on my journal linking to my wishes/goals in various spheres of my life. Out of those cut-outs, there was a light blue Ukulele, I was aspiring to learn to play it. Fast forward many months, I found out about Ukulele classes being held at different libraries in the Helsinki/Espoo area, that too for different levels, beginners, intermediate, and advanced. It was like “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” kind of moment for me. I, right away, decided to join the beginner’s classes. When I got this information, I had already missed some classes which made me a little anxious about the fear of missing out on my peers, but when I started attending the classes, I found the instructor, Sakari Heikka, super welcoming and friendly. Interestingly, there was a provision to burrow Ukuleles and use them in the class. All the students used these Ukuleles until they got their own.

My training began with the right posture to hold the Ukulele, and tune and strum it in the right way so that the Ukulele sounds perfectly. There were about 8-10 students in the class who were very enthusiastic about playing Ukulele. I made many friends through those classes, got to know them, and enjoyed learning Ukulele with them. We were taught the basic chords like C, Am, F, G, Dm, C#, etc, and provided chord sheets to follow. We were so enrapt in singing and playing along with the instructor that those 1-hour seemed like a few minutes. It has been so aptly said that “Music has no language or religion.” It touched all of our hearts.

In the Beginner’s class at Lippulaiva Library, I attended around 12 classes, and I must never forget to thank the instructor for his patience in teaching the techniques to an absolute beginner like me. He was also very regular in sharing the resources of each class so that we could practice at home. I  experimented with the chords that I learned with Ukulele for playing many Bollywood or devotional songs. This helped me to convert a wish of mine, to create an Instagram Channel dedicated to my recordings, into reality. I started recording my songs on the Ukulele and published them on my Instagram Channel – Swar Symphony. I could explore another library; Lippulaiva Library, because of these classes. Another wish of mine, to be able to perform in a live concert, came true, when we were invited to perform in a Christmas Concert at Sello Library on 11.12.2023. The videos can be found on my Instagram Channel – Swar Symphony. We played Ukulele on popular Christmas songs, both Finnish and English. It was a great experience.

I have always wished to adopt playing the Ukulele as my hobby to accompany my singing but as a beginner, I was looking for the right direction to get started. Luckily, those classes helped me sail through the basics of Ukulele playing without getting distracted. Under the magic spell of the Ukulele, not only I could make those dark and depressive winter days of Finland exciting, but I also published as many as 47 recordings on my Instagram channel within 3 months. It’s no less than a wonder for me. I hope to witness more such wonders in the future and let the Ukulele cast its magic spell on me!

Source: Google Images

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SWATI SARANGI

01.02.2024

P.S: This post is a part of #WriteAPageADay by BlogChatter and I’ve picked up the prompt “Hobbies you’re working on”.