#260 A letter to Mom

A letter to Mom

Dear Mom,       

I just wanted to say that I’m the luckiest daughter ever born on this planet. I can never ever forget to thank God for helping me to find the safest place in your arms.

I always cherish the moments of togetherness with family till I got the chance to be at home. You have always been under my observation, being a home maker. How well you play different roles of yours so fantastically, I always wonder. You’re a perfect daughter, wife, daughter-in-law, aunt, sister, sister-in-law and most importantly the best mother on this planet. Treating twin daughters with equality so that no feeling of jealousy and rivalry has ever bloomed is the benchmark of your upbringing that has made you a role model for many.

Your handmade delicacies can never ever compete with the best cuisines of the world, I believe. I literary crave for the magical dishes that your culinary expertise can invent.  Not a single guest has ever left the doorstep of our home unsatisfied by your hospitality. Your way of feeding empty stomachs with the handmade dishes has always attracted me. You have always surprised us with your eagerness to learn new things and implement them in your life. How can I ever forget your talent of making something out of nothing and by turning a garbage into something magical! You’re among the rare species who gets satisfied even with little things that life offers. This character trait of yours always makes you feel contendent with yourself in every situation of life.

You’ve always gifted your daughters the biggest asset of life i.e your good wishes. You have always been successful in deciphering every unsaid word of us .Gratitude for everything you’ve done for both of us which can never be expressed by mere arrangement of words.

At the end, thanks for giving life to me and please forgive me for all the mistakes I’ve committed. Your voice acts as drops of water for my parched soul and the tenderness in your touch makes my paralysed soul functional. You are the saviour of my life. Thank you for being very patient with me and supporting me in every situation. You’re the one whom I turn up to during any adversity. I will always pray God to be under your shelter for million births. Never ever give up on me. I promise to grow into a better person than ever before.

Please continue to be my torch bearer and path finder.

May you be blessed with all happiness and good health. Wishing you a very happy Mother’s Day in advance! J

Your loving daughter

Swati

13.05.2017

Your loving daughter

Swati

13.05.2017

#259 Out of the blue

Out of the blue

I have never ever doubted on the uncertainties of life. Life is uncertain and yes, it always will be. It’s a mixture of suspense, thriller, mystery, joy, sorrow, despair, victory and all those ingredients required to make a movie successful. Life is no different from a live movie.

I have a habit of going on a small walk after dinner. Yesterday too, I went on a walk after my dinner as a daily ritual which I follow too religiously. Before I left, I locked my room. Never ever I imagined that many things would change after I enter my room. After my walk, when I turned the key and stepped in, what I saw was nothing unusual to be noticed by my eyes. Everything was put perfectly in its place as it should be. Since I don’t believe in super natural phenomenon, whatever my expectation regarding the physical arrangement of objects before and after locking the room, was completely met but I never knew that I was going to receive unexpected news shortly. I switched on my laptop and from one of the sources; I got to know the declaration of the result of an exam in which I had appeared in. To my surprise, I was not in the list of selection. I could not believe my own eyes and might have checked my roll number for about 20-30 times. I felt as if the bed over which I was sitting, had slipped away and letting me to fall down suddenly hitting the floor very badly because I was quite sure about myself making it to the list.

What I realised from this experience that there are always changes happening around us. Those changes are sometimes visible or invisible. Some invisible changes are the most powerful ones. If those changes have the ability to push up down, they too have the ability to drag us up, if we think optimistically.

While I was contemplating hard on these subjects, I received a call from my mother, probably out of the blue (unexpected for that hour). Holding on to the suspense of the event was the best I could do at that moment. “Let the moment of shining glory come. I’m eagerly waiting to embrace it”- I escalated my energy through these words of consolation.

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

©Swati Sarangi

12.05.2016

P.S: Thanks Blogadda for WOW badge..

Find the result of the contest

#258 My first WOW badge from Blogadda

Read the WOW post here

#257 One Quote I live by

One Quote I live by

I’ve a penchant for quotations and they’ve always rendered enchanting effects on me. Thoughts spoken by famous and successful persons become quotations which are followed by many as life lessons. I’ve pasted couple of thoughts on the walls of my room so that they remind me about the way to act in different situations.

I remember the days of my schooling where thoughts were shared during morning assembly. “Never give up. Miracles happen every day.”- Zig Ziglar. This was one of the quotations which kept ruling my life during those days. It always helped me to enjoy even the stressful moments of life. Whenever I felt like giving up, this thought gave me a push to try once more at least. I had started believing in the fact that everyday stores a miraculous part in it and at the end of the day, I would try to figure out that miraculous substance of the day. This in turn brought a sense of gratitude for me.

Over the course of time as I grew up, I came across many situations where my aspirations did not get materialized.  When expectations don’t turn up in reality, the feeling of bitterness crops up. I came to know that “Nothing worth having comes easy” in life. To reach the place of one’s desire, one has to pay the price of it. During the perplexing periods of my life, I seek advice from the ultimate epic Bhagvad Gita; “There is nothing lost or wasted in this life”- Bhagvad Gita. This quote throws light on the importance of everything in our lives. When we start valuing everything in our lives, be it a favorable or unfavorable thing, everything starts to be seemed as an important part of this vast journey of life.  My parents keep quoting Bhagvad Gita and the best one giving ultimate wisdom in all situation is – “Whatever happened , happened for  the best , whatever is happening is happening is happening for the best and whatever shall happen will happen for the best”  Every word of this quotation acts as an antidote in curing anxiety offered by different situations of life.

So, it would be unjust to state a particular quote to define the course of my life. As a matter of fact, I’m influenced by the thoughts and ideologies of many great personalities whose quotations help me to deal with different situations of life wisely. There’s is not just one quote I live by, I live by a guiding and divine mixture of several thoughts that are shaping my life.

                       

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

Find the Result of WOW contest here !


Thanks Bloogadda for the badge! :D 

Swati Sarangi

06.05.2017

#256 An offering to my passion

An offering to my passion

An offering to my passion

An art of incredible creations

When I let the words flow

Making thought’s pace slow

Filtering out required portion

To plot on a paper with caution

As the process of thinking progresses

Makes myself fully liberated

What has writing stored for me?

When louder is the world’s cacophony

I search for a state of tranquillity

To weaken my mind’s agility.

Behold ! the vibrant hues

When colours symbolise so true

When painted on a canvas

With experiences so vast

An offering to my passion

Which keeps me alive and awakened

Filling up my time vacant

By lending a terrific impact.

 ©Swati Sarangi

25.04.2016

#255 JYESHTHA Issue of Agnishatdal

Thank you so much to Sharmishtha Basu for wishes! :)

#254 May Day Wishes

#253 Poetry goals with Project Moets

#magicallypoetic  

The passion following voids
Between time, space and work
Nothing different from juggling
With poetic and rhyming words.

Swati Sarangi
27.04.2017

Project Moets

#252 Book Review

Run; The secret destination

AuthoR- Prakash Hegade

Genre- Non-fiction

Pages- 87 (E-book)

Publication-Smashword

Rating- 4.7/5 (Self)

Review- The book opens up with a beautiful poem describing the author’s desire for a perfect world devoid of any negative feeling of wickedness, selfishness, greed etc, then follows another short poem for identifying the state of your search for the secret destination.

The book has been divided into 24 chapters with catchy titles and meaningful discussions follow the topics. One can find a poem after few chapters describing the run in the most appropriate way; its types, implications, consequences. Every chapter ending with a sentence, ‘The book is not about this run’ accelerates the suspense to go through the subsequent chapters.

The conclusive part of the book describing the Real run with this arrangement of words;

Runs of untamed minds

Controlled by the concerned heart,

Prisons the feelings.

My Experience-

First of all, a HIGH-FIVE to the writer because I agree to all the points that he has mentioned in this book. Going through the pages of the book gave me a feeling of hearing the words of experience from my father, grandfather or an elderly person of my family who has accumulated all his words just to show me the essence of life.  Gratitude! This book too comes to me as the most desired time, I would call it the result of Law of attraction which I’ve started to believe in vehemently after I finished Rhonda Bryne’s The Secret. 

I could find the Haikus of writer from the book 100 Haikus so well placed to supplement the ongoing discussion. Influenced by the idea of creating a directory in laptop to put inspiring stuffs like pictures, songs, videos, movies, quotes, articles, I straight away created one in my desktop to ponder about beautiful things of life. Needless to say, if one doesn’t feel gratitude for every little thing in life, he won’t be able to appreciate the essence of life. This feeling of appreciation is well reflected in the words of writer.

It’s never easy to write something in the genre of non-fiction as most of the things are well known or experienced by us all. So, to put so-called-obvious things in words and arranging them in a systematic way is a work worth applauding for. My favourite chapters are- The F-runs, The ruins, Don’t be surprised, Loneliness needs a note, Pin the problems , The real run. Reading this book has made me feel strong and more focused!

Last but not the least, the book is never a one –time read. I’ve saved it in my gallery of books to be read again and again.

Swati Sarangi

29.04.2016

#251 Critic of Boishakh issue of Agnishatdal

Critic by Troy David Loy

Critic by Troy David Loy

#250 Book Review

 100 Haikus: 3 line poetic stories

Author:  Prakash Hegade

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 56 (E-book)

Publication: Smashword

Rating: 4.8/5 (Self)

Review: This book is a collection of 100 Haikus. Haikus are short poems -a culture of art from Japan, 3 liners describing the depth of emotions briefly. In this book, there is no particular theme on which these have been composed on. Themes vary from philosophies of life, observations, love, emotions, nature and many more.

My Experience: It is the first book on Haiku that I’ve picked up to read and believe me! all haikus are super awesome. Haikus; 3 line poetic stories, indeed! This book did not disappoint me in any way as I could get to read on variety of themes on moving from one page to another. Reading each one is like treat to soul because of the ways the words have been arranged so meaningfully. Haikus are not that easy to compose because of constraints on word limit. Kudos to the author for blending all emotions beautifully with limited words!

Here are some of my favourite Haikus that I would like to mention:

the results you see,

when your thoughts are your sources,

are thoughts turning to things.

Oh! Dear subscriber,

For  the nations magazine,

Be an author

Fiction or real life,

You’ll see that pain and gain,

Rhyme for a reason.

Brain has fantasies

Brain does not know direction.

Brain sure has no brain.

 ©Swati Sarangi

27.04.2017

#249 Book Review

PhD – the messy desk

Author: Prakash Hegade

Genre: Non-fiction

Pages: 16 (E-book)

Publication: Smashword Edition

Rating: 4.5/5 (Self)

Review: This book is about the experience of a researcher who is on a journey of attaining a doctorate and narrates about the pros and cons of it. Unlike most of the novels, it lacks index as the chapters get unfolded in the most epic way. With PhD, begins a saga of madness both in personal and professional life because of the length of duration of the course.

The book opens up with a note about its organisation. It is divided into two sections: Part A; about the non-technical details and Part B; about the technical intricacies.

PhD has been acronymed as Permanent Head Damage by the author because of the complexities involved in it. It’s not just a decision to obtain a higher degree rather it’s like going for a chance to transform one’s life in many ways.

The reason for numbering the chapters from 101 is that many things have been left to be added in future. Every chapter has got a very attractive starting line associated with the topic of the chapter.

Part A has got following chapters:

101. The initiate

102. The journey

103. The Guide

104. The Community

105. Art of story telling

106. The Shitty Mess

107. The motivation

Part B has got following chapters:

108. The Plans

109. The research phases

110. The rest

 Concluding Thoughts

My Experience: This short non-fiction novel based on the life of a researcher on his journey of attaining PhD comes to me out of blue but at the much needed time. What prompted me to read it is the length of the novel which is of 16 pages long and related to the field I’m currently into i.e higher education. Even though the actual technical field is different yet I can connect to every point mentioned here. Thanks to the author to put his views honestly about pursuing PhD and “not giving up” is the strongest message of the hour for me. I like the concept of initiating every chapter with a sentence defining the crux of it.

Overall, the novel gives an insight to the world of research in brief and acts as a guide for those planning to pursue PhD in future.

Swati Sarangi

24.04.2017

#248 Halfgirlfriend

Half girlfriend

Looking at the sky filled with uncountable stars like diamonds being scattered over a black sheet and the moon radiating its light, she raised her brows in despair and replied to a question which was asked by him multiple times, “I can’t be your girlfriend but can I be your half girlfriend?”

Out of sheer amazement, he uttered, “What does half mean? We have been together for more than three years. But how has this ‘half’ word come to your mind??’’

She said politely, “It simply means that Dost se Zyaada, Girlfriend se kam (More than a friend but less than a girlfriend friend). I am not ready for a complete relationship. And I can’t assure you that.”

He felt as if someone broke him into a number of pieces of emotions. He was not convinced fully to whatever she told. In his mind, he had already set an answer and perhaps that was a fact for him which could not be changed. He only asked this question to her in order to calm his mind which had been in turmoil for a couple of days.

“Why did you say like that? Don’t you feel that I am capable enough to take care of you as well as your emotions?” He asked impatiently. A lot of questions started to get building up in his mind and these were strong enough to destroy his peace.

For him, she constituted his world. She was every reason of his existence. Her beautiful eyes were so mesmerizing that drew his attention each and every day. Her voice was as sweet as a nightingale. He had never expected her to say something like this. It was a bolt from a blue.

Their conversation took a pause. There was an eerie silence for few minutes. Both stood apart, still looking at the sky and this distance was what created in their mind.

The girl broke the silence, “ Let me explain to you what I meant through a short story. Once upon a time, there lived the sun and a moon in the sky. They were in deep love with other. Even they used to live together. They used to share same space as well. Their friendship grew stronger with the passage of time. It seemed that as if they were united as a single body. Sun wanted to confirm that whether they are in a true relationship not. Sun wanted to live with Moon forever and make this relationship to another level. To this moon was not agreed. They had their priorities and that’s why one can never find both of these celestial bodies shining at the same time.  

Our relationship is like that of sun and moon. We are together but we can’t stay together. We all know that the sun shines in morning and moon at night. But they are known for their source of light. Similarly, you are like Sun and I am the moon. I may fill your life with light but this light may not remain for long. I neither want to betray nor disrespect you. According to me, this is the right decision and we have our commitments and priorities. And friends are those who can never be taken away from life. They are always special and you will occupy a special space in my heart no matter where I go.”

“Thank you very much for having explained to me what it meant really. And yes, you can be my half girlfriend. But the space that I have in my heart for you can never be filled by anyone else.” He said with a spark in his eyes. Suddenly they witnessed a shooting star, they closed their eyes and made a wish together with a hope that it will be fulfilled someday or other.

The post should include the line “I am sharing a Half relationship story at BlogAdda in association with #HalfGirlfriend”

Sweta Sarangi

22-4-2017

#247 Boishakh issue of Agnishatdal

Troy Thompson's critic for my article

#246 Selection in Another Anthology