#547 Celebrating festivals abroad

 Celebrating festivals abroad

Image source : Blogchatter

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop.

This post is a part of ‘Feeling Festive Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters

Festivals provide a way to escape from the mundanity of life and celebrate it. In every Indian household, they hold immense importance and bring countless moments to be treasured as memories. Festivals bring a variety of mouth-watering food, magnetically divine vibes, some rituals to perform, and get-together with family and friends.

Every year, there comes a handful of festivals that all of us look forward to. As a child, I used to surf through festivals on the calendar, not because I hated going to school but because I enjoyed everything about it; be it helping my mother with preparation, serving guests when they arrived home, cleaning or decorating home. All of us, my sister, father and I worked together like a team during the festive season to execute every plan that we had made.

Out of all the festivals, my favorite one is Dusshera. I don’t know why I remember almost all memories of it, right from my school days. Is it because we were given 2 weeks of Autumn holidays then or the extravaganza associated with it? I can’t figure out the right reason. Every year, it falls during October and the feeling of nostalgia engulfs me. The image of stage, competitions, aromas of delicacies, and other performances. Having spent my school days in Kanpur, I witnessed how grand Sarvojanin Kali Puja Samiti used to organize Kali Puja for a week. There used to be competitions for different age groups. We participated in it and won some prizes. The entire celebration would end with fireworks, a prize distribution ceremony, and a concert. I have been missing this festival ever since I was away from Kanpur.

 

Image Source : Generated by GROK2

 

It has been 3.5 years since I have lived abroad. I try to recreate events from my festival memories because it is always not practically possible for me to visit India during festivals. The first that I do as a part of preparing for festival is to rush to an Indian Store to get the groceries or related items for the festival. We celebrate at home with decorations, and delicious dishes or additionally look for communities where it is celebrated. No matter how much I try to recreate those feelings of excitement of celebrating festivals at home back in India, something remains missing.

Such is the power of home; festivals that we celebrate with family and friends! The nostalgia associated with festivals hits me every year and makes me miss home a little more.

© All Rights Reserved!

Swati Sarangi

04.10.2024

#BlogchatterBlogHop

Edit : This post received TOP POST on Blogchatter

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#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

All Rights Reserved!

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”.

#475 Significance of Vat Savitri

 Significance of Vat Savitri Puja

                                                Image Courtesy:Google 

Vat Savitri Puja is one of the most auspicious festivals celebrated in Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh by Hindu married women. It is observed on the Amavasya, which is the no-moon day, in the Hindu month of Jyeshtha, which typically falls in May or June. It is also known as Savitri Vrat or Savitri Amavasya. This year it was celebrated on 19th May. This was my first Vat Savitri after marriage. So, I am going to share my experience of this puja here.

 

I am always fascinated by the Hindu culture. It’s indeed very vast and incredible. Every festival has a story associated with it and a lot of lessons to learn from it. That’s the beauty of our culture. I have seen my mother following this puja's rituals so dedicatedly for years. I have seen her keeping fast for my father throughout the day by eating only fruits. As a child, I could not feel the intensity then until I followed those rituals for my spouse.

 

The story of Savitri and Satyavan exemplifies the power of love, dedication, and the strength of a wife's prayers. Vat Savitri Puja is observed to honor this legend and celebrate the eternal bond between husband and wife. Savitri (daughter of the king of Madra kingdom, Ashvapati) went fell in love with a prince named Satyavan. Later she got to know that the lifespan of Satyavan was short. His husband would die when she turned 13 years which was just one year away. The Father of Savitri told him to not marry him but she was determined to marry her love. Despite this, she married Satyavan and devoted to him. When she was nearing 13 years, the very thought of the death of his husband would haunt her day and night. She started performing rituals and worshipping gods for well-being of her husband. One day, while Satyavan was cutting wood in the forest, he suddenly collapsed due to the effects of his destined fate. At that moment, Yama Raj, the Lord of Death, arrived to claim Satyavan's soul. Savitri, followed Yama Raj as he carried Satyavan's soul away. Impressed by her unwavering dedication, purity, and love for her husband, Yama Raj offered her boons. Savitri asked for three boons. First, she wanted the restoration of the eyesight of her father-in-law. Second, she asked for the kingdom which her father-in-law had lost in a war. Third, she requested to be a mother of hundred sons. Thus, through her devotion, determination, and intelligence, Savitri succeeded in changing the course of fate and saving his beloved husband’s life.

My day started with waking up early in the morning and taking a head shower. I started my ritual by visiting the temple to seek the blessings of the almighty. I wore a new saree and put on all the accessories. I have a particular affinity for bangles. As a married woman, it’s an auspicious accessory to put on with a saree.  Then I moved forward to take the blessing of my husband. I kept fast throughout the day. I consumed only fruits and juice. As its scorching summer here, I felt less hungry throughout the day.  Altogether, it was a unique experience for me. I prayed to god to bless him with good health, wealth, and happiness throughout his life. May he get all the things he desires for.

SWETA SARANGI

23.05.203

#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

 

 

 

#440 Memories

 Memories

Can't label you

Good, bad or neutral

You make me travel

Through the nostalgic sequence of events 

Of a known person

Who is now a stranger to me

Those letters, those giggles

Those promises and endless calls

Are all Incoherent

Which once made my days 

Was it love , lust or fantasy

Still figuring out but in vain.

Why do you always remind me

Memories that I want to forget

Like the scent of flowers 

diffuses with passage of time

Helpless me, who already moved on 

Found out to be tangled

In the cobwebs of thoughts.

Confused me, a silly creature 

Made up of blood and flesh

Of course, brought to earth

By the superpower, who is 

Omnipresent and omnipotent

Bow my head daily to feed 

My mind with the answers

To never ending questions

Ifs, buts , when, how and why.

Why it happened 

When it was not meant

 to happen forever 

Forever is perhaps , 

hypothetical in this world

People come and go but some

leave deep scars on heart

In the end, you find the new you

Lost, broken yet shinning brighter

Because you understand peace 

with the past is vital. 

10-1-2023

Sweta Sarangi 

#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.”

#192 A divine invitation

A divine invitation

Most of you might have heard of the lyrics of this song, “Chalo bulawa aaya he, Maate ne bulaaya he” whose English translation goes like this: let’s visit the divine together as we have received a divine call from the Goddess herself. My journey to Vaishnodevi was similar to it, the situations under which we went there were too challenging. Now when I reflect back, I truly have to admit that without the divine invitation, it could never have been possible for me to visit there.

It was a family plan to visit Vaishnodevi – in fact it had always been in our wish list. The enjoyment of the journey increases manifold when the number of participants of the journey increases. We were 7 members for the journey. We prepared a layout of this plan with another family from our closest acquaintances and chose the month of March to visit as it would offer a moderate climatic condition for the journey. Then we started making preparation for the journey which included gathering relevant information, acquiring reservation in train, packing up the luggage. Something unfortunate happened before few days of the journey, two members of the journey got seriously ill and they had to be admitted in the hospital, the journey was about to get cancelled when we could get to witness the miraculous recovery of them and after receiving the agreement from them regarding the commencement of the journey, we started from the pit stop – our home.

           

          The journey was full of trials, we felt as if all the adversities were designed by the Goddess herself to test our will power, patience and belief. Belief is the fundamental foundation of any religion. In fact, many concepts exist because of the belief system. I was lucky to witness many miracles of the Goddess. Is not the fact of climbing up to the temple of Vaishnodevi few hours after getting discharged from the hospital the testimony of the mercy of the Goddess? The opening line of this itinerary kept reverberating inside my mind though out the journey.

We boarded the train Jammu Tawi from Kanpur to Jammu Tawi. It took 24 hours including the delay of 7 hours which was quite expected. After reaching the station Jammu Tawi the next day at around 5:30p.m, the first job to be done was to quickly head towards Katra so that we could start climbing to temple from the same night itself. The delay of the journey in train put our plan little out of place as we made the return ticket to home the next day at 4p.m. So this was a challenge for us to complete the entire process of ascending and descending the mountain within the limited time and pack up the entire journey within a deadline less than 24 hours!

  

          Without wasting anytime, we hired a taxi and headed to Katra. I had already been lost in the scenic beauty of Jammu the moment I landed at the station, I was very meticulously observing everything in the faint background of the evening. It took nearly one and a half hour to reach Katra from Jammu Tawi station. On reaching Katra, we had to do book tickets for Darshan. After getting freshen up in a hotel which we booked at Katra , we began the most awaited journey at around 9p.m from the hotel.

It was raining so we hired a taxi to reach the main entrance of the temple. After the formalities of the checking got over at the entrance, we were signalled to commence our journey. The unexpected rain made the temperature to fall even more, intensifying the prevalent cold. We were wrapped in winter clothes and rain coats. We purchased a stick to support the process of climbing.

I could get to find different provisions for devotees to climb up the temple- through horses and palanquin. Devotees were from different places of the country and the group of devotees included the people from different age groups even newly born! We chanted Goddess’s name to ease down the fatigue of the journey. The slope was getting stiffer as we moved higher and we were accompanied by other fellow devotes by foot or carried by horses and palanquin bearers. It got dark and I was enjoying every bit of that adventure. Climbing by staying awake all night was no less than a dream to me. The higher we climbed, more blessed and satisfied we felt about taking decision of this journey. When I used to look down from the location where I was from time to time, I was awestruck by the starry jewelled view of the ground due to the illuminating light from different shops. What a moment; no less than a dream – stars all around; up above the sky and surprisingly beneath and we were in the middle of this heaven!

 The weather turned rude after we reached Ardhkuwari, I would connect it to the upcoming tests that we had to appear to get a Darshan of Vaishnodevi. Ardhakuwari , as the name suggests , is  situated at the middle of the journey to the temple  . We had to halt there for few minutes because of heavy rain fall accompanied by hail storm. Many devotees returned from there after hearing the cases of deadly landslide but we were determined and continued with an utmost faith at our hearts.

It was too cold at the temple since it was at the height of 5200feets .The temple is situated at Trikuta Hills. The sight of the temple to us was no different from the sight of the water that would appear to a thirsty deer in the desert. Fortunately, it was no imagination, it was the reality! And yes, we were absorbing that divine reality! It was the most satisfying scene for us after having covered the distance of 14 kms in 7and and half hrs.  The interesting thing was that we got the Darshan of the Goddess at around 5:15 a.m, just 15 minutes before the closure of the duration of morning Darshan , otherwise we had to wait till 8a.m ! It made us realise that Goddess always had a better plan than ours!

Bhairon Nath is the temple which is situated at a distance of 2.5 kms from Hooli Cave and it is believed that the yatra of Vaishnodevi is incomplete without the darshan at Bhairon temple. Due to the unfortunate event of heavy rainfall and landslide, the route to Bhairon Nath was made closed.  So we had to return from Vaishnodevi.

The trial of the journey was not over yet. We had to bear the harshness of the cold weather at the station of Jammu Tawi with 10 hours of waiting for the train. I am happy to state that we could successfully complete the tests of the journey one after the other, all by the mercy of Goddess Vaishno Maata.

This is the divine magical power of Vaishnodevi that attracts 5 million people from different geographical location every year. We were lucky to have been invited there and we look forward for such adventurous journey in future!

Jai Maata Di!

 Swati Sarangi

16.05.2016

#61 A special day with special ones

A Special day with special ones

May 1

This was the day when I landed on earth. I got a companion who was 12 min older than me. Of course she was none other than my twin sister. I feel special to get surrounded by many intellectual people, interesting things to observe and learn from them. This post is all about my gratitude towards the special ones in my life who constitute my world and without them I am incomplete. I can’t even survive without their care and support.

My mother: She is compassionate and caring. She is always there by my side whenever I am in need. I cannot hide anything from her. In fact, she understands my silence and reads my mind from my body gestures. One could just imagine how difficult it is to bring up two kids of same age group at a time and fulfilling their needs simultaneously. She is my first music teacher and would never stop to encourage me from learning new songs. She is the one who discovered a singer within me. I could remember that whenever I used to return from school, before going for lunch, I would narrate the happenings at school starting from the prayer session to the ringing of the bell of last period. She would listen all those passionately as if she was a student and very rarely gets irritated. The most interesting thing is that she had to listen to the happenings of my sister also. Hats off to her patience!! She has spent many sleepless nights during my stay at hostel, thinking of my well being all the time.  She insists me what to do and what not to do, being her child I care for her the most and would love to do anything for her happiness. I like her the way she is: simple, natural yet elegant.

My father: He is a great source of knowledge and energy, a man with positive attitude and deep instinct towards various aspects of life. He is my teacher, motivator and a soul healer. Whenever I feel down or low, I would discuss with him and a sense of relaxation comes instantly. He has got the ability to heal my mind. My words, my life are completely influenced by him. All the inspiration of writing is derived from him. He is my role model.  He encourages me to create something new all the time. He provides me a direction whenever I think that I am derailing from the track. In my initial days of stay at hostel, I missed his company a lot and the words that he used to utter would (“mentally I am present with you”) make me calm and relaxed. If I consider myself a ‘train’, he is the ‘engine’. I am most concerned about his thoughts and if I get a chance to admit, I would say that he is the best ‘papa’ in the world.

My sister:   My companion, my friend and my admirer. She is my shadow in the sense that I am with her from the day I was born.  She knows everything about me from my ATM password to password of my facebook and gmail account. I am like ‘a story book’ for her. My emotions and feelings are open to her. She reads me daily and likes to comment after reading me. We are inspirations for each other. She can never become angry over me for more than hour. She stays in my mind and resides in my soul. I like to do chit-chat all the time with her and she would never leave a single chance to tease me. But, I don’t mind because I know that in doing so, she enjoys a lot. We have spent many years together which we had never thought of. After completion of 12^th standard, coincidently we got admitted to the same govt. institution but our branches were different. By luck or chance don’t know, we became roomies with other two for four years. From that day onwards she is my ‘alarm clock’ and wakes me up early in the morning by calling out my names loudly (very difficult for me to wake up early morning as I believe in late to bed and late to rise). She contradicts me in this case. Till now, she is present with me in all the stages of my life.  We share many similarities in hobbies and thoughts apart from appearance and our interests lie in singing, painting, writing. I wish to find her in each and every moment of my life so that I can share my happiness and sorrows.

My relatives: My supporters and true admirers. They have provided me emotional support when I was away from my parents. They have taken utmost care so that I may not feel their absence. I have spent many holidays . Diwali, Holi and many festivals have been celebrated by me with them. The delicacies made by my grandma would shoo away all my worries. The care that I have got from her is inexplicable. Even when she is ill, she would cook the items that I like the most, whenever I return from hostel for vacation or holidays. My uncles would buy the necessary stuffs that I need and demand. I share all my happiness and worries with them and feel relieved. I always enjoy companies of my cousins starting from age group of 6. I play many video games, computer games rather than by being a spectator. I can consider myself as a ‘cotton’ when I am with them because they make me feel as light as possible and completely drag me to another world(world of fantasies).

My teachers: For me teachers play an important role in shaping future. They can be regarded as incarnations of god because they excavate the winner within you. They are like light houses in the midst of the ocean. They fill life with knowledge and wipe out the darkness of ignorance. They guide you in a better way than anyone else. In all most all stages of life, need of a teacher can never be neglected. I have always come across many teachers who have inspired me and encouraged me to move ahead in life. I am blessed to have such teachers in my life. I respect them for whatever they have done for me. 

                      

My friends: My friends are true critics and admirers. They are the ones with whom I can freely share my feelings without even thinking whether to express or not. I am very close to my friend circle and like to gossip a lot with them. I show them my work and they appreciate it and if something extra I need to add or omit they suggest. I take their suggestions positively and heartily. Some of my friends are very true and genuine. They advice me to take the things as lightly as possible to make life tension free. When I show them my short stories, they would read those with a great interest and come up with lots of possibilities and suggestions to make it better. Their company comforts me and whenever I am with them I forget every pain and stress. There are the “keys of synthesizer” which I would love to play all the time irrespective of mood. They have recommended me to include some new topics which I am probably going to do.

Blog Readers: Last but not the least, readers of this blog truly inspire me to write more and more. Their words are always positive and encouraging. They have sacrificed their valuable time in reading my articles and poems. It is a great privilege to get positive feedback from them. I thank them for their blessings and support. I hope that they do well in their life and their support and care will never go in vain. I feel special when I see readers residing in different corners of earth, express their feelings regarding the blog. I promise that I will be writing in future and keep on publishing my work in my blog.

*I am glad that after a gap of 12 months, I am spending the most special day with my special ones which I have longed for (my pa, mom). Hope that you people rock in your own spheres of life.* Never miss a chance to express your gratitude to your special ones in your special moments of life because once they stood as a GREAT WALL OF CHINA for you (in your dark period of life). The words that come out of your heart should reach the heart of your special ones to let them know, their presence in your life is remarkable. They possess the power to transform you completely to a new individual.

Thank a lot everyone!!!!!

Here is a poem that I had composed some months before and has got published in the website called learning and creativity, Please follow the link: Feeling Obliged*Dedicated to the readers of this article*.Happy labor day!!

29-3-2014

Sweta Sarangi