#603 Cheapness has no levels!

                                 Cheapness Has No Levels

Experienced something disgusting a few days back

Image Courtesy: Google 

People often believe that human behavior can be placed on a scale. We classify actions as good or bad, noble or selfish, ethical or unethical. We imagine that even among dishonest people, there are degrees of dishonesty; even among manipulative people, there are limits they will not cross. Experience, however, teaches a harsher lesson: cheapness has no levels.

Deception as a way of life

When a person chooses deception as a way of life, every boundary becomes negotiable. Truth becomes optional. Accountability becomes inconvenient. Morality becomes a costume worn only when it serves a purpose.

One of the most disturbing aspects of human behavior is not the act of wrongdoing itself, but the extraordinary effort some people invest in protecting themselves from the consequences of their actions. They construct elaborate narratives, create alternate identities, manipulate facts, and present carefully curated versions of themselves to the world. The objective is simple: maintain a respectable image while operating in a completely different manner behind closed doors.

Influence of the Digital World

The modern digital world has made this easier than ever. A person can hide behind anonymous accounts, fake profiles, and fabricated stories. They can provoke, harass, intimidate, and emotionally manipulate others while preserving complete deniability. If confronted, they retreat behind a wall of carefully prepared explanations. If exposed, they become the victim. If questioned, they claim misunderstanding. If evidence appears, they question the motives of the person presenting it.

What makes such behavior particularly fascinating is the contradiction it reveals. The same individual who privately engages in questionable conduct may publicly advertise integrity, professionalism, and ethical standards. Some even go so far as to issue public declarations about their values, creating an image of innocence before anyone has even accused them. It is a remarkable strategy: build the shield first, then claim persecution whenever someone points to the cracks.

Cheapness

This is where cheapness reveals its true nature. It is not measured by money, status, education, or professional achievements. A person may hold prestigious degrees, occupy respected positions, and receive public admiration, yet still display astonishing moral poverty. Academic excellence cannot compensate for ethical failure. Professional success cannot erase personal misconduct. Intelligence does not automatically produce character.

Perhaps the cheapest act of all is the victim card. It requires no courage, no self-reflection, and no accountability. It merely demands the ability to reverse the narrative. Suddenly, the person who caused harm becomes the injured party. The individual seeking answers becomes the aggressor. Facts become attacks. Accountability becomes harassment. Truth becomes an inconvenience.

History is full of examples of people who spent more energy protecting their image than improving their character. Their greatest fear was never being wrong; it was being seen as wrong. As a result, they built fortresses of excuses, denials, and carefully crafted public relations exercises.

Yet there is a fundamental flaw in every strategy built on deception. It assumes that perception is more important than reality. It assumes that if enough people believe a story, the truth ceases to exist. But reality has a stubborn quality. It does not disappear simply because someone writes a declaration, creates a policy, or publishes a statement. Facts remain facts.

 

Levels of Cheapness

Cheapness has no levels because once integrity is abandoned, there is no natural stopping point. The person who lies to avoid embarrassment may later lie to avoid consequences. The person who manipulates perceptions may later manipulate people. The person who hides behind false identities may eventually hide behind false narratives. The behavior evolves, but the principle remains the same: self-preservation at any cost.

In the end, character is not revealed by public statements. It is revealed by private actions. It is not measured by titles, achievements, or declarations of virtue. It is measured by what a person does when no audience is watching and no applause is available.

The truly unfortunate reality is that some people spend years building impressive careers while neglecting the far more difficult task of building integrity. And when integrity is absent, no amount of prestige can conceal the cheapness beneath the surface.

                             Cheapness has no levels. It only has opportunities.

Sometimes I feel grateful for difficult experiences because they reveal truths that might otherwise remain hidden. Encounters with people who choose anonymity over honesty often provide valuable lessons about character, boundaries, and self-respect. Looking back, I can only be thankful that certain realities became visible before they had the opportunity to shape my future.

What I find most surprising is that some individuals who maintain respectable public images are willing to behave very differently when protected by anonymity. Social media has made it possible for people to conceal their identities while engaging in conduct they would likely never display openly. The contrast between public reputation and private behavior can be striking.

Over time, I have developed little patience for those who rely on pseudonyms, fake profiles, or hidden identities to communicate in ways they would not dare to under their real names. Accountability begins with transparency. When a person chooses concealment over honesty, it often says more about their character than any public achievement ever could.

An interesting pattern emerges when such behavior is questioned. Rather than addressing the concerns directly, some people prefer silence, avoidance, or the support of others to shield themselves from accountability.

While every person is entitled to their privacy, accountability ultimately remains a personal responsibility.

If the purpose of such conduct was to demonstrate success, influence, or superiority, it achieves precisely the opposite. Achievements, titles, and professional accomplishments are meaningful only when accompanied by integrity.

Without integrity, even the most impressive résumé appears incomplete.
I sincerely hope that anyone who engages in such conduct reflects upon the impact of their actions and chooses a better path. Respect, honesty, and accountability remain far more valuable than any temporary comfort provided by anonymity.

As for me, I believe that facts eventually speak for themselves. When necessary, appropriate channels exist to address misconduct, and evidence has a way of becoming relevant at the right time. Until then, I remain focused on truth, self-respect, and moving forward.

May God save them if they attempt to harass anyone next time. 

I hope to expose the truth one day, as I have retained ample evidence. If required, I will pursue the matter through the appropriate cybercrime and legal channels.

For now, continue to hide behind anonymity if you wish. A masked identity may conceal a face, but it cannot conceal responsibility forever.

I sincerely hope no other woman has to endure the same kind of behaviour in the future.
 

SWETA SARANGI

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

11-06-2026

#602 Some Realisations!!

Some Realisations

Sharing my experiences of a spiritual journey!

I am a spiritual person. I have been practicing spiritual modalities for the last few years, especially during the first lockdown in 2020. This may be because I felt completely lost and hopeless then, despite having everything in my life.

I was in my top-notch phase.

After COVID-19 hit and everyone started getting quarantined, reality hit hard. I started getting anxious about the future and started questioning my existence and the purpose of life.

A question was quite prominent, which occupied my mind for a long time: WHO AM I?

To find an answer to this question, I would watch multiple videos by preachers and spiritual gurus from different religions. In the end, I would never get a satisfactory answer because they used to answer from their perspective, which never matched mine.

In 2021, a series of events happened that broke me completely and transformed me into a different individual.

I never imagined that I would lose everything at one go: my career, health, peace of mind, and most importantly, my grandmother, with whom I was so deeply attached.

I went into isolation, and this seemed to be a spiral loop of what-ifs, buts, and innumerable questions and scenarios that would haunt me badly at night and snatch away my sleeping hours.

The wound of betrayal and grief was so deep that it would leave me perplexed. I was numb emotionally. It was really strange for me to find that no amount of anything would make me happy then. I was the same girl who would be happy over small things in my childhood days. This continued for days, and later turned to months.

I had no option and left with no energy to cope with these negative thoughts. I managed to come out of the spiral loop after a few months.

When I think about those days, I feel grateful for people who stood beside me unconditionally.

Fast-forwarded to 2026,

I am in my healing journey and path of rediscovery. I joined a program called Inner Engineering on February 15 (during Mahashivratri) by Sadhguru of the Isha Foundation, Coimbatore, in an online mode. I always wanted to attend this program.

I came across the videos of Sadhguru during my M.Tech. days in 2017. I was always drawn to his ideologies, which target the youth of the nation by discussing ideas rationally.

Recently, I have been attending the modules of the courses through lecture videos from the official website. I am going to share my experiences from the program, though I have not completed all the 6 steps.

Realisation 1

In one module, Sadhguru asked the participants to do meditation by closing his/her eyes. Then he instructed them to chant, “I am not my body. I am not my mind” for a few minutes repeatedly.

I started feeling a sense of detachment. If I am neither my body nor my mind, why should I feel anxious or negative about anything? Nothing should bother me at all, not people, society, or situation. It is a better practice to feel calm during a tough time.

Realisation 2

In another module, Sadhguru has asked the participants to close their eyes and be grateful for a few things in their lives. He started giving instructions accordingly.

·      3 most important people in life: Father, Mother, and Sister

·  3 People important to you from your neighbourhood: My paternal uncle, My neighbour Granny, and her cute little 4-year-old grandchild

·      3 People whom you have never met yet but have a positive effect on you: Person1, Person2, Person3

·      3 Animals for whom you feel connected and affectionate: Cows, kittens, and Pigens, whom I feed every morning.

·      3 Plants/Trees you are grateful for: Rose plant(I like red colour roses, which symbolise love), Banana plant of my courtyard, Coconut tree

·      3 non-living things: My laptop (my saviour), my fridge (for storing food), and the kitchen gas where I cook

·      3 Celestial bodies you are grateful for: Sun, Moon, and Earth

After practicing gratitude, I became calmer and more composed.

One realisation hit me very hard that the relatives, my bosses, and colleagues have no place in my life. They don’t even exist in the list of 21 things, which comprises both living and non-living beings. Why should I even keep them in my thoughts at all??

My world has really shrunk to a few people, and I am really grateful that I have meaningful people in my life.

No crowd, no dramas.

Some realisations hit late but hard enough to leave imprints in your heart forever.

Thank you, Sadhguru, for such amazing realisations, and I look forward to sharing more such experiences until I complete the program!!

 

Sweta Sarangi

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
27–03–2026

 

#601 I am an asset to myself!

I Am An Asset To Myself!!

I don’t need anyone’s approval!

 

What is an asset??

According to the Oxford Dictionary, an asset is a person or thing that is useful to someone or something.

Please read it again. The definition itself associates an asset with a person or thing.

Is it true always?

What if you are not accepted by someone? Will you still be considered an asset?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions? If yes, you are not alone in this journey. If not, let’s explore what it exactly means.

Labels

As human beings, we often tag ourselves with certain labels. Those labels may be due to the remarks of your parents, teachers, friends, colleagues, boss, life partners, or anyone residing in your surroundings. Sometimes our past experiences, achievements, or current situations also create imaginary labels in our heads.

Those labels can be both positive and negative. How to check that?? Very easy. The remarks you get from your critics may not always be in your favour. Those can drain your energy, hence negative remarks. Some remarks can make you feel elevated and happy inside. Those are positive remarks.

What if you are not accepted by someone? Will you still be considered an asset?

My answer is YES.

No one is ever born on this earth without a purpose.

No one has the power to make you think that you don’t have any purpose in your life.

Most of the time, we as human beings seek validation in a relationship. The relationship does not always need to be romantic. It can be anything like parent-child, teacher-student, uncle-niece, and so on. When we are not seen, heard, or appreciated in that way, we feel devalued and not worthy of love.

When we try to attach our self-worth to another person’s perspective of us, we lose our originality. The authentic self is lost because it is dependent on someone else’s way of seeing you through their lens.

Apparently, we fall into the trap of appreciation and validation, which can sometimes be daunting as well. Of course, others’ perspective of framing opinion on you is neither in your control nor your responsibility to change.

What can we change then?

We can definitely change the way we think about ourselves, irrespective of others’ opinions. That’s what self-worth is. The more you are aware of your self-worth, the more you can remain calm and composed in any situation because you know that others’ opinions of you are not going to affect you or disturb your mental state in any way.

Working on yourself and your goal is the most difficult thing in the world because it comes with the acceptance that you acknowledge your flaws and you want to improve.

One thing I realise over the years: it requires a lot of patience and courage to change something within you that is stopping you from moving forward.

When you work on yourself with dedication, you start seeing the results. The results may not come overnight, but yes, it comes with some time.

Then confidence builds up within you, and you try to become aware of your self-worth. This awareness helps you set some boundaries between people in a healthy manner.

By following some healing modalities and manifestation rituals over the years, I feel calmness and stability within me. The courage to not accept the opinions of others about you is my takeaway from these daily practices.

Now, the reality has shifted for me, and I am starting to see the people the way they are.

No overthinking, no drama to change their perspective about me.

And this has given me the freedom to live my life on my own terms.

I’m embracing self-love.

I’m showing gratitude towards the adversities that happened in the past.

These compelled me to change something within me, and I could see the transformation.

I am in such a state of mind that I don’t really care whether I’m an asset or a liability in anyone’s life.

I’m an asset to myself. That’s enough for me to end my day.

 

SWETA SARANGI

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

26–05–2026 

#599 Different Question Papers

 Different Question Papers

Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

I have given many exams, either as a student or as an aspirant, in my life. One thing that I learned from it is that I lost fear of facing them because I followed certain principles and stuck to them till the end.

From an early age, I’ve never lived to impress anyone. So, that never put any pressure on me to go against my principles, which always carried honesty. Think of it as a hereditary trait.

I have always stood against any form of cheating, even if it meant failing in the exam. There had been many instances, especially during midterms during my college days, when almost the entire class would copy and score a decent score when I would struggle to reach that score. All of us knew that we lacked guidance and resources to learn that subject, but I believed that if I put effort into understanding the subject, I could score well.

A poorly performed answer sheet of mine didn’t make me sad, for two reasons. First, I wanted to evaluate my understanding of that subject, which could help me improve. Second, it showed my honesty and level of preparation.

I knew that if I went for shortcuts like copying or resorting to illegal means to score, I might altogether lose the ability to learn. That’s the reason why I could appear for some competitive exams and cleared some rounds, while many of my friends, who relied on scoring through cheating, didn’t dare to even sit for those exams.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and shortcuts are like easy choices, like cheap dopamines offered to us in the form of distractions by social media.

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Copying during an exam was possible when the question paper was the same, but what about the biggest exam called life, where all of us have been given entirely different question papers? Even your sibling has a different question paper from yours.

Each question paper is unique, and the circumstances that we face in our lives are the questions to be attempted. How we react to those circumstances is our response or answer to the questions.

Here’s an analogy that my mind has found:

Exam → Life
Questions Paper → Challenges
Questions → Circumstances 
Answers → Reactions

Where the result of this exam is decided by the teacher, the one who has designed this question paper. He/She must be higher in the hierarchy of knowledge or experience than us; that’s what makes him/her eligible to set the question paper.

Unlike the exam of college exams, the one who cheats fails in this exam because he is unaware of the fact that everyone’s question paper is different.

The level of difficulty of the questions is the same for everyone, but it appears to be difficult or easy to others based on their perception.

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Many people think that their life has been full of difficulties or challenges, while others’ pains are manageable for them, but they’re completely unaware of the silent battles that everyone is fighting each day.

While comparing their lives with others, people think that others are in a better position than they are, but while comparing the pain, it’s the opposite thinking; they think they’ve endured more pain in their lives than others.

Let’s talk about the reality. There’s no one whose life is devoid of challenges. All of us have challenges in our lives, and they might not be the same for everyone. One might face financial problems, while others might be unlucky in terms of getting favorable outcomes, and the third person might be dealing with some health issues. Imagine the level of comfort that you can offer to others by showing a bit of empathy instead of thinking that you have won greater battles in your life than they!

The level of difficulty of challenges that one faces in their life increases with age and experience. She/he grows through these difficulties and finds a coping mechanism in the process of facing them.

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Comparison is the thief of joy — Theodore Roosevelt

The only comparison that can lead us anywhere is comparing with yesterday’s self.

We should ask ourselves, “Am I better than yesterday?” If the answer comes out in affirmation, then you’re on the right track.

©All Rights Reserved!
 Swati Sarangi,
23.09.2025
You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#597 Empathy in Relationship

 Empathy in Relationship

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025 

Empathy is an important ingredient of any relationship. Being empathetic means being able to put yourself in the other's shoes. It might sound so easy, but it could be so challenging in the real world, especially when there’s always a comparison with others.

Funnily, a set of people exists who think their life has been full of struggles, while others are always vacationing. They think they’ve won greater battles in their lives than others.

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Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

To discuss more about empathy, I am reminded of a beautiful story that I read during my school days, and it was one of my favorite stories.

The title of the story was The Letter by Dhumketu. If you had been a student of the CBSE board, you must have read it.

The protagonist was a coachman named Ali, who was a very skilled hunter in his past. After his daughter, Mariyam’s married a soldier and relocated to Punjab with her husband, Ali visited the post office every morning before sunrise to get the letter from her daughter.

Ali’s regular visit to the post office without caring for the adverse weather made him a subject of discussion for the postmaster and other clerks, as he never got a letter from his daughter.

On forseeing his death, Ali handed five gold coins to the clerk of the post office and asked him to deliver the letter of Mariyam to his grave.

Years later, when the Postmaster’s daughter was studying in a different city, and he had to spend sleepless nights waiting for the letter from his daughter to know about her well-being, he realized the pain of Ali, being separated from his daughter.

He decided to amend his ways and hand over the letter to Ali personally, but it was too late.

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The Letter is not just a story but a scene that applies to today’s scenario too. The difference is that the letter has been replaced by the mobile phone.

One of the viral videos on social media showed the pain of a father's separation after his daughter was married. A lift operator was seen looking at his mobile phone, not a smartphone. When asked by the person in the lift about what he had been doing, he replied that he had been waiting for his married daughter’s call to find out about her well-being after his son-in-law had left for work.

Why do some men, particularly married ones, feel insecure about their wives maintaining a close bond with their fathers? Why does society expect women to distance themselves from their families after marriage?

Just as men have parents who raised them, their wives also have parents who did the same for them. Marriage should be about uniting both families, not prioritizing one while neglecting the woman’s side.

In my opinion, if someone truly loves and respects his/her parents, he/she will respect anyone in his/her parents’ age group, let alone in-laws. If his/her relationship with his/her parents is not healthy, he/she needs to heal it before disrespecting anyone of his/her parents’ age.

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One never understands the situation of others until he/she is put into the same situation. Until then, others’ situations always appear like a piece of cake to him/her.

Life is a harsh teacher; it will never make its lessons easier until one learns from their mistakes and promises to never repeat them.

Let us be a little kinder or more empathetic today by being observant of our surroundings before life makes us experience what Ali once did, as it did with the Postmaster.

©All Rights Reserved!
Swati Sarangi 
31.10.2025 

You can support my work through Buy me a Coffee.

 

#596 A Gift of Life

 A Gift of Life

The greatest gift of life is life itself!

                                                    Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash

 

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025 

Part -1

Back to those days of the early 90s, a man, call him A, rushed to the hospital from his office when he got the news that his wife was going into labour.

A’s wife was pregnant with twins. So, the doctor suspected it to be an early delivery or emergency C-section and asked him to buy some necessary stuff from the market.

When A returned to the hospital with all the stuff that he purchased, the doctor informed him that a woman had just been admitted and needed to go through an emergency C-section. While his husband was away managing money, A gave away the stuff he had just bought for his wife's delivery, along with a cash of Rs 800. (Mind the value of Rs 800 in the early 90s)

A was blessed with twins with a normal delivery and no complications, while the lady was blessed with a son, as the doctor informed him.

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Part — 2

24.08.2025

I came across chilling news of a man carrying his dead newborn child in a bag, which is often used to carry vegetables from the market, and complaining in a police station about the negligence of doctors.

He reported that the doctor refused to admit his wife, as he could not pay the entire medical expense, and they were adamant about not even receiving a fraction of the medical expense on repeated insistence.

As a result of such negligence in the emergency, his child died during his wife’s delivery—shame on such doctors who are devils, not saviours, for such an inhumane act.

Imagine the trauma of losing a child, and adding to that are the rounds of visiting the police station and fighting for justice in a country where the entire system of law and order is a joke!

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I narrated the above news in Part 2 to my father on a call and got to know about the incident in Part 1. I was so moved to learn that A was my father, as the twins were us, Swati Sarangi and Sweta Sarangi, and my father selflessly gave someone the biggest gift: the gift of life.

That boy, born on that day, must be of our age, unaware of this gift of life that he received from a middle-class man, but with a heart full of compassion and kindness.

For many years of our lives, we unknowingly received immense care, protection from the Almighty and could live a peaceful life away from pretense or unnecessary noise.

Maybe it was for this kindness that my father received a gift of life for himself, having met death so closely and escaped from it by God’s grace, later in his life.

Maybe we were unaware of the blessings as gifts that we received as the return gifts for innumerable instances in our lives, for the kindness that our father showed that day!

© All Rights Reserved!
Swati Sarangi 
26.08.2025 
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