#496 11years & Counting

 11 Years and Counting

Source : Canva Design

It’s a day of celebration as our blog turns 11 years old [ sorry for not being able to post it yesterday as it was on 30^th Mar 2013, when I started publishing my write-ups on this blog]. A lot has changed over these years, from acquiring my first university degree to moving and living in different countries, from losing family members to creating memories of acquaintance in foreign lands, Life has its peculiar ways of unfolding mysteries that it has been holding onto for ages. I’ve entered another decade of my life unsure about what it stores for me, but I must admit that I’ve no regret for the chances that I took in the past, even though they didn’t turn out to be the way I wanted them to. So, I am excited to go through other experiences of life, whatever it has to offer, I am open to receiving it as blessings.

With increased responsibilities of life and career, writing, for me, sometimes seems to have taken a backseat. I am amazed to find my write-ups from the past when I scroll through them. I wonder about those ideas that I poured into my writing that came purely from observing my surroundings. As a student, I tried to keep myself productive and away from all sorts of distractions. Writing helped me beat the boredom and provided me with the freedom to traverse anywhere in my imaginary realm to bring those events to this mortal world. It was the time when smartphones weren’t part of our lives, let alone AI technology. With the emergence of AI technology and the advent of writing tools like ChatGPT, everyone, who’s a user of such writing or editing tools, is a writer. What a human mind can achieve, technology can never achieve. After all, AI is a product of the human mind, maybe its greatest invention.

Creation of any form requires an isolated environment and peace of mind. Achieving an isolated environment not only implies omitting human interference from the physical environment but also removing all sorts of distractions. What it took me a few minutes to compose a poem, and now it takes me hours and hours to select a topic to write on.  Yes, I am distracted by technology like smartphone, social media, laptop, iPad, and easy dopamine rises like watching reels etc. and I am trying to control such distractions to be more productive. Meditation has helped me conquer the chain of unrelated/irrelevant thoughts, so I just have to work on my level of distraction or procrastination.

Blogging is a way to reflect on my day-to-day life to not miss its learnings. Life provides learning opportunities every day and its lessons are hidden intricately between different events. I am grateful to all readers for sparing their time to go through our writeups and provide valuable feedback. I will keep them coming.

Source: Google Image

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Swati Sarangi

30.03.2024

 

#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

#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”.

#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”.

#486 What a lazy day looks like to me

 What a lazy day looks like to me

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop. 

Before I start writing anything, I would first like to thank the team of BlogChatter for coming up with a lot of innovative prompts with the help of which I can conquer my writing block. From this week’s #BlogChatterBlogHop, I have selected the prompt “A blogger on a lazy day” for mainly two reasons; First, I qualify to consider myself a blogger after blogging for a decade. Second, I’ve been idling around for some time recently, just being cozied up in my cocoon during these snowy Nordic winter days. I want to slow down a bit and enjoy this process of my existence and evolution as my life turned extremely hectic a few months ago.   

         

          Picking up a day from one of my recent lazy days, I usually get up between 7:30 am and 8 am as it’s winter here in Finland and the sun rises around 8:40 am and before that, it’s pitch-dark black all around. So, I can proudly say that I wake up before sunrise or can I call it a Finnish Brahma Muhurta? Jokes apart! So, for me, a lazy day essentially doesn’t exclude any work, but it includes moments to relax mentally by not worrying much about my career or future or giving time to activities that I enjoy doing. Note: A married woman’s life can’t be devoid of any work, there’s always a schedule of household chores to perform. After performing some usual household chores like cleaning, setting up the rooms, and cooking, I sit on the armchair in my favorite spot in the drawing room with a cup of hot chocolate and a book. I also watch some movies or videos on YouTube for entertainment. I enjoy reading eBooks on my iPad where I also take notes. These days, I’ve been learning to play the Ukulele, so I’m trying my hand at Ukulele. I experiment with this stringed instrument which I have yearned to play for a long time. I try to get the chords for some Bollywood songs by hit and trials and note them down in a notebook which I refer to while recording the songs. I upload these recordings in my quite-recently-created-Instagram-Account; swar_symphony. I also collaborate with singers all over the world on Smule app. I feel that anything that one creates makes her happy and confident. I would sometimes surf for different contents or invitations for writing on different prompts to keep my blog alive.

 

          I wonder what life without any work would look like. After crossing the carefree stage of life that of a student, I am into the next phase of life; that’s married life which comes with some T&C and some responsibilities. I can never think of getting rid of the repetitive household chores as it has taught me to be more disciplined and gain control over the mind which always gives me numerous excuses not to do it. At the end of the day, I feel content to reflect on my day and feel grateful for my family and friends.

 

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Swati Sarangi

30.11.2023

#484 To the years gone by

 

                                        To the years gone by

It is a summary of all the years that had passed by and the lessons learned.

2020: This year started with a piece of positive news i.e. engagement of my sister, followed by her marriage in March. The worst phase started with the announcement of the lockdown in India on March 20, 2020. This was completely a new scenario to handle both at the physical and mental levels. We were baffled by the news of the number of deaths increasing day by day and reaching its peak. My work was equally affected and I was contemplating each day how to overcome it. Each night was difficult to pass. The feeling of restlessness by not doing what I was supposed to do, had made me miserable. My PhD work, which was experimental, got affected severely. This year went into lockdown mode by staying at home and getting all kinds of bad news.

 

2021: This year was even worse than the previous year, I had never anticipated. I had to drop out of my PhD in mid-way. This was the most difficult decision I had ever made till now. My father was retired from his job and had to shift to his hometown. After we all reached our hometown, I got the news of the illness of my grandmother. She was hospitalized then. She went through surgery at the age of eighty and going through surgery was very painful as she was not given anesthesia during the operation. Then the second wave of Corona hit hard. All the family members were diagnosed as Corona positive. My father, my grandmother, and my elder uncle were rushed to hospital for treatment of corona due to their critical condition. They were not able to breathe properly. My father had surgery where there was the implantation of a pacemaker in his heart (which would regulate the heartbeat) just before the coronavirus hit him. We were broken both financially and mentally. We did not know that we had to go through a lot this year. One of my very personal life decisions turned out to be not favorable. Soon, after a few days, we were relieved because my uncle and father both returned home safely from the coronal shelter. We were waiting for my grandmother, but alas she never came back. It was our misfortune that we could not even bid her goodbye in her last breath. This was a shock for our entire family. It was very difficult for me to process such miserable events just one after the other. I was jobless as well as hopeless. Everything seemed to be just blurred. There was no sign of a bright future.

Soon after I recovered from Corona, I was hit by dengue which lasted for about twenty days making me weak physically and mentally. I had no option except to suffer, suffer and suffer. I was eagerly waiting for some happenings in my life. I got a job nearby as I was not in a condition to relocate due to my poor condition of health. I continued working there for few months. I started regaining my trust and confidence once again.

 

2022: This year arrived with a few marriage proposals for me. I had in confusion to select which one would be best for me. I took help of my family members in making decision for my life partner as it was going to be an arranged marriage. Finally, after interacting with few proposals, I made my mind to marry the person. I had to leave my job because I had to shift to another city after my marriage. I started adjusting with the family. I made many changes within me to please the members of my husband’s family. But all were in vain. They were always into finding faults of mine. His mother whom I treated like my mother, never treated me as his daughter. She had issues with every little thing as she would compare her daughters with me which is completely wrong.  And I have never found my husband resolving any kind of family dispute. He preferred moving out of the place when any problem arrived. He was an escapist by nature. The love and affection I have never received from him which he had always promised to give during his conversation before marriage. There were many promises made which were never fulfilled such as moving to the place where his company was located soon after marriage. I suffered a lot here. I had no freedom to do what I felt like doing. I was never appreciated for singing, painting or writing.

 

2023: I thought that with time, all these issues would resolve as time heals everything. But, it all depends on the mindset of the person. Marriage is a two-way process. It’s never the sacrifice of one who has withstood the institution called marriage. The cruelty and violence continued for a few months. In the meantime, I have got another job and started working virtually.

 

This year is going to end with a month in hand. I want to thank all those people who stood with me like a pillar of support, by not leaving my side. Things were extremely difficult but because of their support, I could navigate these years.

 

I want to scribble down the lessons that I have learned from all the struggles that I went through-

1.  You should never emotionally get attached to a person until you are very sure that he/ she is the right one.

2. You know your worth. No one has the ability to define your worth.

3. Love yourself as much as you can, then only you can love others in a real sense.

4. It doesn’t matter what others say. It’s your life and live it in your terms.

5. Truth always triumphs even if it takes longer time to show its true nature.

6. Time heals every pain. So, when you are in pain, give time to heal.

7. Nothing comes easy to anyone; it may seem easy but it’s always challenging.

8. Never leave side of your parents, they know you better than anyone else. Believe them and respect their decisions.

9. Hobbies are your real friends. Hobbies make you utilize your time better and provide you inner satisfaction.

10. When things don’t go the way you want, connect to the universe or god. You will definitely grow spiritually.

 

SWETA SARANGI

24-11-2023

 P.S: This post is a top post in blogchatter.

#441 My association with Sai

 

My Association with Sai

 

OM SHREE SAINATHAYA NAMAH

I am a small devotee of Saibaba who has instilled faith in him since 2011. I had seen my mother worshipping him for ages. Being a kid, I used to accompany my mother in the evening Aarti every Thursday, but I developed little devotion then. For me, as a kid, prayer meant duty and discipline which one had to perform daily without fail. This article is dedicated to the incidences and miracles of Saibaba which have strengthened my devotion and faith in him and made me believe in his existence in this materialistic world. 

 

Experience 1: Felt the presence of Saibaba in my hostel room

It was back in the year 2018 when I joined IITK as a research scholar. One night during winter, I was feeling lonely in my room. I was in search of someone with whom I could chit-chat and feel relaxed. My wing was completely vacant then and I tried to contact one of my best friends in the same hostel, but she had slept as it was around midnight. I switched on my laptop and browsed meditation music on YouTube. To my surprise, I found Saibaba’s picture in one of the videos in the thumbnail. Without wasting a second, I clicked on that and started doing meditation by closing my eyes. That chanting of Saibaba’s name had a soothing effect on my brain that I forgot everything for a moment. I went into a state of thoughtlessness. After a few minutes, I discovered that some white light passed in front of me, though my eyes were closed. I got a chill and opened my eyes, then I noticed a matchbox that was kept in front of Saibaba’s idol fell suddenly without being touched or disturbed by anyone. How could it be even possible? There was no one in the room except me. The room was closed, and so were the windows. No movement of wind was there as the room’s ceiling fan was switched off. I got terrified and slept. Did Saibaba visit me to free me from the loneliness that night? He could only answer this question. I was amazed at the Leela of Saibaba. 

 

Experience 2: Saibaba in my dream

It was October 2022; I had an argument with my husband then. It was in the evening and Pooja was going on in my in-law’s house. He left the room out of anger. I kept crying and went to my room. I had intrusive thoughts then. I felt numb and extremely pressurized. I browsed YouTube for the meditation music of Saibaba and told him about my pain and anger through meditation. I got instant relief. I had my dinner and then slept. On Thursday afternoon, while taking a nap I had a dream. In that dream, I saw my grandfather, whom I had lost twenty years back, was present and was wearing white coloured clothes just like Saibaba. He started asking me about my well-being and my in-law’s family to which I answered positively. In the end, he asked, “Are you okay? Aren’t you hiding anything from me?” Then he started weeping. I was consoling him in my dream. After that, I came back to the real world when my husband knocked on the door. Is Saibaba omnipresent? How could he know my state of mind, at that time?  

 

Experience 3: Saibaba in my mobile as a pic 

It was 24 Dec 2022 at midnight, I was in my lowest state mentally, lost and broken completely. I was going through a series of failures in my career. There was not a single person who could understand my pain and console me. Members of my husband’s family were very dominating and demanding, in all most everything, which made the matter very worst. I took refuge in Saibaba. I was crying like I was in hell and unable to come out of the situation. I meditated on one of the music videos of Saibaba. In my prayer, I expressed my agony to him. Like a father, he would protect me, this was my expectation. My meditation lasted for half an hour. I prayed to Saibaba to show his darshan(presence) to me. I repeated this many times. “Show me your presence, Saibaba”. To my surprise, the electricity went off for a few minutes at around 12:30 AM, and just then I could feel someone’s hand over my back, caressing me. I knew that he would never be my husbg75dand because he usually sleeps around 10 PM. I mustered my courage to look back to find that he was sleeping peacefully without knowing anything. I was so terrified that I used my blanket to cover my face and slept silently by chanting his name. 

 

The next day, in the morning, while browning the gallery I found a few photos clicked from my phone. When I checked the detail, it was clicked at 1:01 AM. I could also figure out baba’s blurry image clicked on white background. How could this be even possible? At 1 AM, I slept. If it gets clicked by mistake from my phone, then how was the flash section of my mobile on? I have a habit of sleeping by keeping my mobile near my pillow. It never happened before that photos would be clicked from my phone automatically. It clearly showed that Saibaba heard my prayer and showed his presence in form of an image clicked from my phone. It was incredible. I got emotional and bowed my head on his lotus feet and prayed to him to solve my problems. 

 

Then I decided to visit Shirdi as I felt that it was baba’s wish to attract the devotees to his holy land. He can only decide the date and with whom one can visit the place. I started my journey with my paternal uncle on 10^th Jan 2023. Again note the date, it’s 10.1.2023. This date contains 10.1 which is exactly the same number on which the photo was clicked from my mobile. I still think it as a dream comes true.

 

Bow to Shri Sai — Peace be to all

 

Sweta Sarangi

21-01-2023

 

 

 

#433 Bloganniversary : Celebrating 9 years of its existence

Bloganniversary ; celebrating 9 years of its existence

The day has come to celebrate this special day; that special day is the anniversary of this blog. I’m so glad to share that my blog turns 9 years today and I can’t be happier. When I started publishing my articles in my personal blog 9 years ago, I had never imagined that it would be instrumental in inculcating a life-long habit of writing in me. This blog proved to be a faithful friend of mine whose friendship developed during the sophomore year of my college life. It feels unbelievable for me to realize that this blog still continues to reflect my innermost thoughts and ideologies while I travel through different frames of time and space.

Source : Google Images

 

This blog documents the journey of my life by witnessing various stages of my evolution. In 9 years of its existence, it has been successful enough to garner 6-digit-views of people across the world. It has stuck to me during adverse situations and provided me immense support. It’s strange to believe that this inanimate thing has occupied the most important part of my life. It has witnessed me completing my graduation, post-graduation, working in the corporate world, exploring different places and then countries, entering into married life, and striking off many things from my bucket list. When people came and went in my life, it stayed constant. During college days, when many relationships formed and broke off, I feel proud to have invested my time and energy in this relationship which still continues to be with me.

 

Source: Google Images

This month is important for me not just for the anniversary of my blog but also celebrates the second anniversary of my marriage. Unlike this blog, I entered into the relatively early stage relationship for a life-long partnership which evolved through the days of struggle of lockdown and following the passion of life amidst all uncertainties. It was then I learned that every decision taken during the phase of uncertainty provides its own rewards but only those who get the privilege to enjoy these rewards have the courage to face these uncertainties. We can never enjoy a movie when we know its climax beforehand and the same concept applies to life as well.

 

During the last 9 years, I had never pledged to write only in my blog. I grabbed the opportunity to write on different platforms and experimented with different forms of writing such as long and short forms. Not posting in my blog ever implied that I was not writing, in fact, I was always writing, sometimes in my diary, other times as comments for my fellow writers. Whenever I got any idea, I would right away draft it on my mobile. Recently, I have been documenting my journey as a software developer in my technical blog – coding concoction in Hashnode. I never shy away from complementing fellow writers there from whom I learned a lot.

 

Source: Google Images

I neither have any agenda nor any plan to write in this blog, I will keep writing whenever or wherever I can or when I am completely overtaken by the urge of writing. Writing, for me, is the ultimate form of expression and I will continue to do it as long as I am alive.

 

I will write whenever I can

Even under the scorching heat

Holding a pen with my hand tanned

Or trying to write my emotions

With my frozen hands

I will write about the beauty around

During spring in a foreign land

Like leaves of autumn, I will wait

 For thoughts or ideas to be reborn

 

I will write whenever I am happy

Singing and dancing merrily

To appreciate the life

I will also write when I am sad

Not willing to share my grief

With the world around

 

I will write whenever or

Wherever I can

To help my words to reach

Those unvisited clans.

 

All Rights Reserved

Swati Sarangi

27.03.2022 

#432 Published in Eyes - 61st Issue , Feb 2022

Published in Eyes Magazine - 61st Issue,Feb 2022

I am very glad to share that story of my Quarantine entitled as “My Quarantine story of 21 days” has been published in 61^st Issue of Eyes( Feb 2022) which is a Newsmagazine of IIT Kanpur’s campus. I am very grateful to the editorial board to publish my article.

#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

#206 A letter to Zindagi

A letter to life

Dear Zindagi,

What a wonderful companion you turn out to be! Thanks for everything that you offered or snatched away from me which made me realize the worth of every little thing that I've come across.

I started to receive blessings of my life since the day I landed on my mother’s hand and surprisingly I was not alone! I was accompanied by a sweet little angel in form of my twin little sister who happened to be 12 minutes younger to me. So, you handed the responsibility of an elder sister over my shoulder the very -first- 12-minutes of my life. Then my childhood was spent in a joint family in Bhubaneswar with many supervisors who at times made me very pampered. Being the first child of a big Indian family, I was the apple of everyone’s eye. All my needs were always met without any fail or delay. You put me in an intellectual family whose values were very strong and I received all needed support and care from family members. I was always surrounded by my friends in my family which included my grandparents, uncles, aunts and parents who took a keen interest in my activities by always encouraging me. I was enrolled in a very religious Hindu-school who implanted the seed of spiritualism from the early stage of my life. I learned to recite Sanskrit Shlokas and play with numbers. My talents were very well nurtured and groomed.  My mother’s birthplace Puri, happened to be a place of get-together of all my cousins during vacations. Memories of staging plays with my cousins are still alive.

You gave me an opportunity to complete my secondary education at Kanpur where I grew to be a very matured and disciplined girl. Knowing about my reticent nature, you introduced me to the world of words, numbers, colours and melody who became my virtual companions very soon. I have started to enjoy their company without expecting much from the surrounding. How penning down feelings over a piece of paper acts as a medium of introspection- you taught me that very well. The kind of people I came across left an indelible print in my mind. You fostered my spirit of competition in a positive way by keeping me away from the poisonous feeling of jealousy. Equal treatment of us (sisters) by my parents never let even a dint of jealousy to flourish. You presented me a set of exemplary persons whom I stated to consider as my teachers and a set of friends for life. I can never forget to recall the wonderful trips I made to the cities of Allahabad, Mathura,Vrindavan,Jaipur,Khajuraho,Agra,Lucknow, Pantnagar,Nainitaal,Jammu

So, my education revolved around cities like Bhubaneswar, Kanpur, Sarang (Talcher),Hyderabad ,Indore(and continuing). I got an opportunity to come across people of different states, languages, cultures and religions because of it. You’ve made me appreciate the beauty within yourself. You’re the embodiment of all emotions- the storehouse of all experiences.

How wisely you have made me realise that the little sacrifice like staying away from home for a bigger purpose of life is nothing as compared to the countless sacrifices made by my parents for me! You have taught me to be brave and develop a never-give-up attitude no matter how hard the situations turn out to be. Now, I’ve developed the patience of going through the struggling phase of my life. Thanks for surprising me with those wonderful rewarding experiences during the time of disappointment. Thanks for believing in the uniqueness of my existence.

Last but not the least, I have no words to express my gratitude for you for having silently taught  me different experiences of joys,tears, ,success,failures,hopes,disappointments. 

Thanks Zindagi! 

I could have never asked you for anything more!

With love

Swati Sarangi

06.11.2016 

“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda.”