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Monday, July 18, 2016

Give up or Not ?

The night sky promised another bright day once the black carpet gave way to its ego alterer.She gazed up to have the final look and closed the window.


She closed her eyes. She hoped things would go the way she had mapped them out. She had put in a lot of efforts and was sure of her victory. Still, the worry did not let her sleep.

She tossed and turned on her bed. No! Her dream was just a few hours away and it wouldn’t let her sleep. What if she didn’t see her dream come true? She would know it within a few hours from now. She was confident, but scared. Too many things had kept her away from realising her dream. But she didn’t give up. But what if her dreams come crashing down? Simple! Try again. Fall, but get up. Do not give up. Come what may, I will not give up, she thought and had sound sleep.

Knowledge

It is said that pen is mightier than the sword. The words penned down on a piece of paper are enough to stir a revolutions. Knowledge can be passed by explaining in words, but to pass it on to distant places, you do need it to be stored somewhere which can be passed to places where the teacher cannot reach. Pen and paper, printing helped in transferring knowledge to lands where the original writer couldn’t reach.

Technology improved over time and the modern time has turned to internet which provides information about everything and anything. It has become easy for anyone who wish to learn about anything. It has surpassed all boundaries The courses which were once unknown or not within reach have been made available in the remotest corner of the world.

Knowledge transfer need not be in just form. As long as the knowledge is transferred from person to person, and from generation to generation, the media need not matter. Pass the knowledge, learn the good things, know the meaning of life.

When Hunger strikes

Often the fortunate ones do not realise the meaning of hunger until they face it. The less fortunate ones who have gone through the tough phase of hunger realise the value of food.

Most often we see people wasting ample food while in some other part of the corner people are seen "skipping" meals due to no availability of food.

Most often in the name of following diet or losing weight, we skip and starve even though ample food is available infront of us. Solution for losing weight is not starving, but eating the right quantity of food and the right kind of food.

One should value the food that he has in his plate and try and not to waste it. And it isn't just us, there are ample places and ways where food is wasted in great quantities; the amount of wastage is alarming.

This post was born out of realisation that even though there is ample food around, it doesn't reach people who are in dire need. 

Keeping a Journal

From my personal experience, keeping a diary helps a lot. Be it personal experience, or even your exam or study schedule, it helped me review and know what I had done during the past days. Being the forgetful person that I have always been, diary helped me keep a track of the activities I did throughout the day. It wasn’t a compulsion for me since I liked doing it. With compulsive activities comes dread, with dread comes hatred, atleast that is how things work for me. I do not like to do things out of compulsion. Things that I love to do, I tend to go for them naturally, although I will never be an expert in them.

Is there any particular way to write a diary? Do people follow rules? I do not know. I started writing about anything and everything ever since I remember. I will always regret that I do not have the proofs of it. The first diary was in fourth grade where I wrote my so called poems. The real poet came out in the sixth grade, influenced by William Wordsworth. Diary keeping became a habit from junior college where I would staple pages since one page wasn’t enough for a day. The entries would stretch upto four pages stapled one after the other which went as far as having detailed syllabus of each subject. It did help me a lot. Other personal accounts didn’t go as far as having ice cream with friends. That was my personal life.

Creativity has dwindled over time and with age, not that I am an old soul. It has dwindled over time having being catered to the wider audience. The innocence along with carefree attitude towards grammar is no longer visible, although grammatical errors still persist.

Having said that, I have realised over time that people may or may not read or pay heed to your daily rants. It all depends on how you put it up. The skill of  convincing people through your words, that is how I would like to say it.

Should I or should I not mix diary writing and writing? That is a question meant to be answered by myself.

Getting back to the main topic, maintaining a journal helps keep a track of many activities. Be it a book or your online sheet, it helps maintain and review many things which you have done, and not done. This is one reason I would strongly recommend people to keep a track of their daily activities and thoughts somewhere.



Wednesday, July 13, 2016

"Bookish" Thoughts Day 5 of Write Tribe WTFOW #5

Another thought that struck my mind while reading a few articles about the influence of social media is the influx and the emergence of writers coming up everyday. It may sound harsh, but every Tom, Dick and Harry considers himself a writer. I know I haven't reached that stage where I can call myself one, and I have a long way to go. But my love for penning down thoughts on paper (now laptop) ever since I was a child hasn't stopped me from writing despite requiring much needed improvement in different ways. Having strong critic at home makes you feel you have to achieve a lot in your favorite field.

There is a lot of free advice doing rounds on the internet on "How To Write". Some are genuine. People have started online business mentoring how one should write, free of cost. But hey wait! I had heard there is no free lunch in this world. Full Stop!

Writing is an art which allows you to convey your thoughts in a manner that grabs the attention of the readers. Not everyone possesses the art. Some have the natural ability while others have to build it over time.

The advent of social media and the power given by it to users has allowed every person to pen her/his thoughts which otherwise would either hide in the closet or were available to the crowd she/he was familiar to.

Not everyone had the medium to publish his thoughts. Newspapers published articles of only those which they found suitable. But today different branches of social media have given you flexibility to pour your thoughts in few characters to unlimited ones.

Blog has turned everyone into an author. Develop a plot in your mind, type it and hit the publish button! There you go! Few people read it, applaud and then you are forgotten. Only the ones who can express remain in the race. The people who never tried lifting a pen and didn't prefer writing are typing their thoughts furiously. Is it the love for writing, publicity, or following the crowd, I wonder

Self publishing has opened new grounds for everyone to publish their books. The point I wish to make here is, there is so much crowd and so many authors that you sometimes do not understand what to read and what not to. Even though you wish to try new books, you do not know where to start. Sometimes, it looks as if there are more authors than readers.

Solution; it is said that develop your own unique style of writing. But sometimes it feels like even uniqueness has become so common that you cannot find it :D

Opportunities today are many. People will try to grab them. Uniqueness has become common. Find the uniqiueness in the common unique things. 

"N" Things that... and How To's Day 4 Write Tribe WTFOW #5

Social media since past one year (?) or more has been abuzz with giving lots of wanted and unwanted advice. There is a spree of solutions (some self-tested) for almost every question; be it physical, environmental or emotional query.

I remember a time in my childhood where there would be column for personal questions in some magazines where people posted anonymously and agony aunts provided solutions to almost every personal questions people sent. Did they ever go through those difficult times, I wonder. But "natural" tendency of people who are in deep s**t always always either run to miracle babas and their female counterparts or turn to agony aunts.

These days you do not even need to do that, although people still secretly check their horoscopes for the day. Speaking about horoscopes, my curiosity lead me to a so called popular website which has classified horoscopes into health, education, love life, personal life and so on. You will be surprised seeing the number of websites dedicated to and doing business of astrology. To each his own!

Social media has taken a step ahead wherein certain "groups" or "pages" allow free advice to anything and everything. "Like" or "Follow" any e magazine and you will see atleast five to ten articles written on "How To..." , "What to do if..." , "27 things that...". When I started following and liking certain, I had no idea that the online community would be generously pouring out advice after advice. Well, I do read them in my free time. But do I follow them?  Well, it upto each one to take in what is good and what is not required.

"10 Homemade remedies for Healthy skin". Well, I will definitely read this one, which provides 10 different ways to make your skin glow. Am I going to try all the ten techniques on my face? Although they look appealing, it is upto me to decide which will be suitable for me. I cannot just follow it without doing a little more research or asking someone to know and decide if they suit my skin.

"How to win back your boyfriend". Well, frustrated people may even try the the mentioned points. But do you need to? Can't you do it on your own?

As it is told many times, listen to everyone, but do what you feel is right for you. Listen to all the worldly advice given, think about your issue from every aspect, consider solutions provided and derive your own solution suitable for your problem. There isn't any one solution to every similar problem.

Life is different for every individual depending on her/his situation. Not everyone CAN TRY the "27 Things every person should do once you are 27." So do not just get up and start doing it unless you are absolutely sure of what you are going to do. :D

Despite all this, it is worth spending time reading the articles which are actually helpful in our daily life. Some are daily hacks that make your chores simpler, some give boost to your creativity, while others open new pastures for you to explore things that you never thought were available or possible to do at home.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Free Write #Write Tribe WTFOW #5 Day 3

Helter skelter the thoughts run. Mind; it is as absurd as the insane thoughts that churn out from it. It is this absurdity that has created wonders, and it is this same absurdity that has brought down empires. Sane and insane thoughts, two sides of the same coin, are they?

Good and bad. Can anything be classified as “Good” and its opposite as “Bad”? It is what we humans perceive. Nothing is good or bad, they say. But there should be peace, hence things are classified as good and bad. Think positively, is told to us time and often. Why? To maintain peace.
Mind plays funny games. It is human mind that has ability to think imaginable and unimaginable. It is through this mind that it creates what was thought to be unreal.

Anything is possible,one just needs to try, is told to us. Work hard, yes! But working smarter is the new Mantra.

Ability. You only need to stretch your ability to do something, and bingo; you will see results you never thought were possible. Stretch your limits a bit, or a little more. You will be surprised to know you have abilities you never saw.

They say work isn’t work if it is your passion. True. What if you do not like your work? Then?

What is true for you may not be the same for me. But to maintain a balance everywhere, humans have come to conclusions that certain things are acceptable and certain not. Norms.

Why am I writing about mind and absurd things? Writer’s Block. I have read that Free Writes help in clearing mind and getting new ideas when you are stuck with writer’s block. But does writer’s block really exist? I question it on some days, and sometimes just write to my heart’s glory.

Empty mind is a devil’s workshop. Then why not write out and free the mind from this devil?

Writing has always made me soothe my mind. Whether good or bad, I like documenting every thought that crosses my mind. But laziness creeps in and thoughts pass and never return. What is the remedy? Keep writing? May be, may be not. But document whatever you feel is important. I have had this problem (?) where I dream of fantastic writing ideas. They remain when I am awake, but vanish by the time I brush my teeth. Solution? Get rid of laziness and document them when they are fresh. You know, great ideas are born in dreams too.

Mind wanders again…….

I agree that I am at that stage of life where I am expected to behave like an adult. What does that mean anyway? Stop learning and do routine work? Why not try something new? Is it too late just because I fit in the adult age group? Opportunity doesn’t come to you all the time. Sometimes you have to create, sometimes search. Right now it is all about creating. Running after childhood passion. Yes! I mean it. Re-learning old things with a twist. Twist of fate would you like to call it?

You read many stories about people leaving high paid jobs and pursuing their passions. Looks glittery and worth giving a try. But do you know what planning goes into it? Quitting one thing to start something new from scratch isn’t as easy as it is celebrated. Opportunities galore! Indeed this is true in today’s world but do not forget - Hardwork aplenty. Am I discouraging? No! Just making you aware. My standing ovation to the people who try something different and who bend the rules :D


This post is written as part of Write Tribe WTFOQ #5 Day 3

Monday, July 11, 2016

HALF TIME 2016

It turned out same like every year. “New Year, New Me” looks appealing during December and January and by the time its end of February, you fall into the usual routine. One can find many posts written about this in my blog during the month of December 2015. But like the years which had “New Year Resolutions” written with so much hope in my diary, this year resolutions suffered the same fate like them. Refraining myself from making resolutions for many years, I thought the new vigour in me would make me keep them this year; but all in vain.


What did I re-learn from this is that I do not need the new year to start anything new. Still we do measure our progress from 1st of Jan every year.To start anything new, you do not even need a new day. Just start it from the next moment. You need the enthu to start something good.


My reflections and musings have made me conclude that growing and developing for your own self is the best thing that you can ever do. Life is precious, it is said. Keep healthy, live healthy and do something with your life which is worthwhile. Taking care of one’s own self is the best thing one could do.


I cannot actually write much about the first half of the year except that I participated in very few contests and that I am gaining momentum since last month. A month long break and days spent in loneliness helped me reflect many things.


Conclusion: Live for yourself. Gain knowledge to satisfy the ever curious brain. Bring the child out within you instead of behaving like an adult.


And yes! Write more!

This post is written as part of Half Time 2016 for The Blogchatter.

Blogging Friends Write Tribe Festival of Words Day 2 : WTFOW #5

Having missed the first day of the challenge, I would like to join from Day 2.


Blogging Friends


What better topic to start writing for this blogging challenge than writing about blogger friends.


Having published blog posts in isolation for long time, I got noticed by the Blogchatter community a few months ago when I joined their twitter page and people started reading my blog posts.


The encouragement that people read what I published is enough to keep writing but sometimes mind wanders and you are back to square one. And that is when Blogger friends, and friends of Blogger friends come in picture. I don’t know how write tribe came across my blog, but they asked in a tweet if I wanted to join this challenge. And yes of course, was the answer.


This first blog post for the challenge is dedicated to the Write Tribe and for my blogging pals who read and reply with their sweet words of encouragement.


Although I do not have any theme or idea as to what I will be writing about, I will write on random topics that arise in my mind for the next 5 days. The next five days will be my writing exercise to test how much and how creatively I can write without pre planning the writeups.


Thanks Write Tribe for inviting me to join this challenge.


This post is written as part of the Write Tribe Festival of Words Day 2 : WTFOW #5