This New Year Let's Do Something Different

The new year is here- all gift wrapped and ready to be painted in blue and pink! And like every year most of us would have already made a determined resolution to follow. But within two months we will be back to square one using the clichéd proverb as an excuse- promises are made to be broken. Well, this year let us all make a different kind of resolution- let us pledge to abide by three basic rules to succeed and follow them throughout the year. If this works out in our favour, we can continue next year too. If not, at least we will be glad that we kept one of our promises.

1.   INTENTION

Right Effort or right diligence is the sixth part of the Eight-fold path of Buddhism. To be able to hold all the aces in your pocket, one need to cherry pick opportunities and take long strides in the right direction. Here, Intention plays a major role. Very rarely we are faced with difficult choices where it becomes important to consult others for opinions. 

All other times we are well versed in what we have to do. The only thing that skips our mind is the right intention with which we should do anything. Right intention is not only to give up harmlessness and ill-will but also to be attentive to our purpose of doing something because our intention forms our reality. This brings us to the second most important thing:

2.   ATTENTION

'Right Mindfulness' is the seventh part of the Eight-fold Path of Buddhism which emphasizes on having the awareness of thoughts, feelings, surrounding environment and all the bodily sensations. When we are aware of what is happening to us and with us, it becomes easy for the mind to take decisions and prevent us from hemming and hawing. Being attentive not only helps collect one’s thoughts but also helps in coming to grips with the problem or situation. Paying attention to what might happen and how might that help you can eventually help in shaping the intention.

3.   PURPOSE

The last but not the least is Purpose. Everything has a purpose. You wake up to go to work; you use the toilet to empty your stomach; you eat to remain energized during the day; you continue working in the hamster wheel only to earn a living and then using the money to live your dream. 

Even the smallest thing that you do during the day has a purpose, be it small or big. Even Picasso believed that the purpose of art is to wash off the dust of the daily life off our souls. It is not difficult to not know the motive of your actions; it takes a genuine thought and a silent moment to analyse and introspect.

So, this year let us break free from the usual and make an attempt to become a responsible and good human being by developing the awareness to have the right intention for a meaningful purpose. 

Wishing you all a very happy, prosperous and euphoric New Year 2018!

Indiblogger Bangalore meet 2017: Curtain raiser- Valley of Words

“Life is all about having a good time.”

― Miley Cyrus

The BNLF fever is at its peak and the Indiblogger community is going bonkers over the biggest blogger’s meet, which is scheduled for November. Last Sunday (20.08.2017), Bangalore bloggers got a chance to experience and be a part of the interactive session organized by Indi Blogger at Hilton Bangalore Embassy Golflinks. The event/ meet was organized in collaboration with StoryMirror and Valley of Words.

Our host for the evening was Mr. Anoop, who knew it pretty well how to grab the attention of the audience. The program began with a quick round of Musical chairs (well, not exactly), followed by 60 seconds of fame. Many bloggers and published authors introduced themselves. It was an enriching session; it was, indeed, a good chance to get to know people.

The second session was taken over by Mr. Bibhu, founder of StoryMirror, who shared with us the inception of the concept of StoryMirror. He even discussed his book ‘Wheels of Wish’. This was followed by book launch by the published authors of StoryMirror- Ms. Ganga Bharani, Mr. Sulaiman, and Ms. Kavipriya.

The third session was a talk-session by the authors who shared their experience working with StoryMirror. Indiblogger was generous enough to call upon all the published Indi bloggers on stage and acknowledge them. Immediately after this, we were asked to break for high Tea.

The second session of the workshop included book launch of Hindi translation of ‘Songs of the Mist by Shashi’ and the curtain raiser for ‘Valley of Words’. Mr. Shashi discussed the plot, the time and the little tricks that he employed to write the amazing story.

Next agenda for the day was to reveal the concept of ‘Valley of Words’. Mr. Sanjeev Chopra was the speaker for the day. He revealed the schedule and the guests for Valley of Words. This was followed by an interactive session with Mr. Pankaj Dubey, who has authored ‘What a loser!’ and ‘Ishqyapa’.

Overall, this meet was an enriching experience for all of us. Not only did we get a chance to meet new people but also got the opportunity to introduce ourselves and our blog. The meet concluded with a Mexican song and an amazing group photograph.

Eagerly waiting for the next meet in Bangalore, I sign off.

'UNBOUNDED TRAJECTORIES' Cover Release

It is time to acknowledge all those who helped me make this happen. The cover of ‘Unbounded Trajectories’ is out. After days of hard work, patience and perseverance, the UT team has finally put up a good show altogether. 

To start with, my sincere thanks goes out to all these wonderful people:

Harsh: Ah! My Precious! Right from the editing till the designing of the cover and the selection of appropriate title, you have been my constant support. We are definitely thick as thieves.

Shantanu & Nitish: My two lovely brothers! If only you two had taken me seriously and had helped with Photoshop, this book would have been completed one month back. But still, thanks for all the love.

Ratnadip Acharya Sir: Thank you sir for all the help with Grammar and formal English. Your motivation helped in moving the wheels of this project forward.

Himani Gupta Di: Thanks for your prompt response and for giving feedback on the book.

Supriya Mam: I cannot express how grateful I am to have received your feedback on the stories and poems. It means a lot to all of us.

Dr. Kanwal Sharma: Sir, the entire team of UT is thankful to you for giving us your valuable time and writing the preface of this book.

Nikhil Sharda Sir: I was sure that you wouldn’t deny my request for the foreword. Thank you so much sir. Probably, I can promise more reviews for your website now. You made this happen.

Kumar Vikrant Sir: ‘The guy behind successful promotions of the book’, yes, that is what I would address you as. Thank you, sir, for the never ending help.

Irfan Ali: Another enthusiast who isalways ready to help, be it the graphics or the video promotion. Thanks a lot.

Tejaswini mam: I can’t thank you enough. I know I bother you a lot- in school, on Whatsapp and now on Facebook. But I couldn’t help it. You are my mentor and your precious help is what I needed the most. Thank you, mam.

And last but not the least, this would not have been possible without the contributions of my fellow contributors. You are all wonderful people. Kudos to the UT Team!

PS: I could not write this acknowledgement in the book so this became my Letterpad.

Regards and best wishes

Enakshi

First few days here and I have started liking this place!

“I feel like I have a new life and I'm going to take full advantage of it.”

I moved to Bangalore 20 days back. Unlike what I already knew about Bangalore, there were many new things that I didn’t know about. When you walk on the streets, the ambience smells of Gajra flowers. Probably, people like to wear ‘gajra’ a lot and no doubt it looks magnificent. This city nowhere resembles an IT city. Owing to the numerous traffic jams, the roads, the chaos on the streets and the accommodations, the “IT fame” is just a myth. Time and again you can spot people talking in a non-lucid language and the only thing that reaches to your eardrum clearly, is ‘ille’. The vegetable vendors count in Telegu. Even the beggars speak English. You can spot foreigners frequently. But the strange thing that I noticed was that these people do not seem to mingle with Indians. Instead they prefer being in their own merry world, with their fellow mates. The traffic is horrendous as you have to keep looking left-right-left-right while crossing the road. Probably the “Banglorians” do not know how to use a ‘horn’.

But even then I am falling in love with this city. May be because of the weather or 24*7 electricity provision, or may be because I get to explore new things and new people. Adjusting here is not a cakewalk and will definitely take time. With my partner-in-crime off to work, I have nothing more to do than to read books, write articles and review content. Guilty pleasure? Hell yes!

Ciao!