My 7 Ways to enjoy solitude.

On August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Very often my social site status update read: Love Solitude. My friends are quick to respond “why? Anything wrong?” I send a smile back and say “All fine, no worry. I really love solitude.”
Solitude is fine sometimes if not always. We live in chaos. Every day with the same routine work, rush for reaching workplace on time, show competence every day, prove that you are the best every day, and come back home realising many things are lying undone. The second part of the day starts at home, prove that you are a great mom or dad or son or daughter etc. Among all these ‘to do’s where is the time for yourself?
Take some time off from your work, go to a quiet place. As William Harper said, “And in the solitary state of oneness, man can meet himself” ……A solitary confinement gives the chance to concentrate on oneself leading to self-discovery.
• Enjoy the beauty of nature: the clouds, the fog, the sweet breeze, the waterfalls, the deep forest, the colours of flowers, the butterflies. Nature’s bowl is full, try to enjoy all of it.
• Go near to a sea. A long walk on the beach gives you the opportunity to know people. Observe them, how they enjoy life. The boats, fishermen, the children playing on the beach will refresh you. Open your canvass and try to paint whatever you like. Or, simply lie down and enjoy the waves.
• Your hobbies can flourish when you are alone. Compose songs, write poetry or think science or think life. Write your feelings about life’s experiences. It will give you an opportunity to retrospect and chalk out plans what else you want to do.
• Meditate every day in the early morning, it provides peace and strength for whole day’s work.
• Watch TV alone after returning from work. Feel the freedom of choosing the programme as per your wish.
• Cook food as per your wish. Lie down on a comfortable sofa, watch TV and taste the delectable food prepared by you or bought from your favourite eatery.
• Take time off at night or early morning to do your favourite work. It may be reading a book, gardening, music, and dance or planning your future.

So, we should not always conclude that loving solitude is a psychological problem. Refresh your mind, recharge your body. After all, it’s your life, which can avoid the dictations from others, at least for an hour, for a day or days.
Act wisely. Enjoy life in your own style!

Solitary

7 amazing Sculptures: Unfurl your joy of knowing the art of the world!!

On August 17, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Unfurl the History of art and sculpture and your jaw drops every time. Who knew a huge piece of marble will become David, the Hero of all time?? The first visit to a foreign land gave me the opportunity to see David and I looked on, could not remove my eye for so long. How amazing & How beautiful!! I saw the art on the roof of Sistine Chapel, again my eyes couldn’t blink!! To me, Michelangelo unfurled the world of amazing joy and beauty.

There are so many sculptures to talk about. So many artworks by great people to savour about!

Let me tell you the few which I wish to see in my own eyes and touch with my own hands.

1. The Knotted Gun, Turtle Bay, New York

gun- — **Image Credits: dailyphotostream.blogspot.com**

Non-Violence is a bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd of an oversized Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with a knotted barrel and the muzzle pointing upwards. Reuterswärd made this sculpture after singer-songwriter and peace activist John Lennon was murdered.

2.Transcendence

Transcendence is an outdoor sculpture by Keith Jellum, located in Portland, Oregon, United States. It depicts a fish flying through the brickwork above Southpark Seafood at the northwestern corner of Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Park Avenue in Downtown Portland. The sculpture measures 11 feet (3.4 m) long and is made of hand forged and welded bronze.

3. Sinking Building Outside State Library, Melbourne, Australia

4. People of the River by Chong Fah Cheong, Singapore

Chong Fah Cheong is a Singaporean sculptor known for many public sculptures in Singapore. Though he worked in a variety of styles from abstract to figurative, his name is identified with a series of figurative sculptures depicting the life of people living and working along the Singapore River.

5.Spider, Tate Modern, London

Spider is a giant sculpture of an arachnid that stands on the floor. The artwork is made of bronze and granite and was created in 1994 by the French-born American artist Louise Bourgeois. One of the first of many sculptures of spiders made by the artist, Spider measures 2743 x 4572 x 3785 mm, which is large enough to occupy the entire space of a room.

6. Les Voyageurs, Marseilles, France

French artist Bruno Catalano has created an extraordinary series of eye-catching bronze sculptures called “Les Voyageurs” in Marseilles that depict realistic human workers with large parts of their bodies missing. The sculptures were put on display in Marseilles.

7. The Shoes On The Danube Bank by Can Togay & Gyula Pauer, Budapest, Hungary

It is a memorial in Budapest, Hungary. Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honour the people (mainly Budapest Jews) who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

Unfurl

Health Benefits of Corn:

On August 16, 2017August 16, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, HealthLeave a comment

It’s monsoon and the Indian streets are flooded with yellow corn. Sellers are busy in roasting corns on red hot charcoals and there is no dearth of buyers. The nutritional health benefits of corn are amazing if it’s grown through organic farming. Drizzling rain, dropped the temperature and hot corns with lemon juice, pepper and salt are real monsoon food. Know the benefits of corn and have it roasted or boiled.

Controls Diabetes and hypertension
Reduces cholesterol absorption
Boosts immune system
Prevents anaemia
Reduces the risk of colon cancer
Good for cardiovascular diseases
Rich sources of vitamins and minerals
Good for bone health
Helps to prevent haemorrhoids
Good for eyesight and skin
Free radical scavengers throughout the body
Rich source of Ferulic acid, an anti carcinogenic agent

Grainy

What freedom means to me……

On August 15, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, education, Environmental Protection, Health, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Freedom means the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. Freedom means the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. The uncomplicated meaning of freedom in a dictionary.

But understanding freedom in its true sense is far from complicated.

Free from slavery, free from foreign rule, free to rule your own country is freedom.

Achieving the status of a free state was never easy for any country which was enslaved. The time of colonisation has vanished, all the countries and the world has moved forward, things are much more civilised and modernised now. The world has progressed but still, some issues force us to think deeply.

Our children are still suffering from hunger, deprived of education, lost childhoods and struggle to meet the both ends daily. The world is the toughest place for the young innocent children to survive. In this era of the twenty-first century which is a cyber century, the most progressive century: we have millions of children who live on streets, not have proper nutrition, don’t have access to education and don’t have access to proper sanitation. The list may grow by few more parameters. Still, the birth of a girl child is taken as a curse! Today I came across a news in TV that a husband smashed his wife’s face with a stone and killed her because she gave birth to two daughters consecutively. The plight of girl children and women are not at all upgraded rather with time we have fallen behind to protect the weaker gender, better not to talk about equality!

Freedom has a broader meaning. Like the complete power to express the thoughts, let the thought be judged but let people speak freely. Freedom means choosing your lifestyle, career, choices freely. With Freedom, must come the responsibility of preserving the rich culture and heritage of our nation. Preservation of history always is a trial to show respect to our forefathers.

Freedom must come with a package of safety and security for every citizen. Equal education for all, food for all, healthcare for every citizen, good roads to move, water and energy, homes for all, a clean environment, corruption free society- an unselfish world for all. It sounds like a fairy tale, a heaven on this earth!! But then, how could I express what I mean by freedom? To me, Freedom is Happiness all around.

As the day started with the patriotic fervours, a smell of rituals everywhere, a serene feeling with patriotic songs, respect shown with full passions, the day spent well as could be.

I, wanted by heart, not to listen to any news which demoralises the spirit but could not. The evening news revealed a minor girl raped in the morning when she was going for flag hoisting function in a park in a city like Chandigarh. The same old story was rewritten by someone for whom freedom loses its meaning!!

Freedom in the willy-nilly way loses its purpose.

Willy-nilly

15 ways to Live a Purposeful Life.

On August 12, 2017August 12, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”…….Mark Twain

How about making a dent in the Universe where you live your life? Live from your heart. Leave no heart untouched. Write on the wall of life.

The simple ways to live positively and a purposeful life needs the following practices.

Be kind, nice and polite to everyone you meet.
Try to spread a positive vibe with helping others.
Listen with care, have the patience to solve a problem.
Try to understand that everyone has a story to tell. All are suffering from one or the other problem.
“If you want to see the change, be the change first.”—very common quote we always refer to. Start working to make a change.
Education is a broad area to start with, educate people about the positivity of life. Impart knowledge whenever possible. It’s not very easy and quick process to get everyone educated, but the long term effect will be beneficial for society.
Impart knowledge of music, art and dance. Creativity is the essence of life. Creativity spreads happiness.
No one wants to live a lonely life. Try to make friends. Have your own friends to have good discussions, outing, picnic or any charity works.
A good friend circle is helpful for managing any crisis or giving a positive solution for any problem. We all know the importance of friendship in our society.
One can volunteer for any crisis like natural calamities or give medical care to the needy.
Taking part in any kind of campaigning like environmental protection, lifestyle, health care or education gives you a chance to leave a mark.
Delivering good thoughts to society will ultimately make the change you want to see. You can speak out in any gathering or you can write your good thoughts to convey to people.
Organize social gatherings where people can interact and know each other, share their views on different problematic issues which are emerging in society.
Organize sports meets or other competitions for children so that the next generation make a bonding with each other.
Our problems are many and vary from region to region, generation to generation. Organization of meetings will enable us to know about the things to be done.

Dream, plan, organize and deliver the goods to society so that no one feels to live on an isolated island alone. Let us grow and enjoy life together. The digital era has made people drift away from each other. Many are feeling lonely, helpless. Living with no hopes are killing people inside. Think of it and act to make the world a better place.

Organize

Carousel!

On August 8, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Health, LifeLeave a comment

Think about Carousel and what comes in your mind?

I just tried to express it.

C– Challenging

A– Adventurous

R—Robust (Tough/ Vigorous)

O—Orientation (dis)

U—Unnerve

S—Strange (Bizarre/Weird)

E—Excitation

L— Love

Love for carousel leads you to an adventurous world.

Long Live Friendship

On August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Notice the people who are happy when you are happy and sad when you are sad. They deserve a special place in your heart –

Sometimes you meet some persons and you just get well with them. You blend so well that it becomes impossible to think about a separation all through life– They are your true friends.

Friends are so special that we cannot think of our life without them. I, as a child and as a teenager, felt the part played by each of my friends. Studying, playing, watching movies, planning mischiefs, helping each other, doing team work, acting, singing, dancing, recitation, facing the crisis of life- the list is endless when I have not my friends by my side. Not only them, but their parents too were encouraging and helping. Our childhood, as well as university days, were never revolving around a cell phone and internet. We had plenty of opportunities to interact with people and understand them. A friend is a human being with his or her family members, problems, intellects, talents. He or she lives in a society where a healthy relationship grows with understanding each other. We learnt to face so many problems with a smiling face because of the support of a strong friend circle. For friends, all problems have a solution. Imagine how talented can be a person who can laugh away any grave situation to just keep you strong and steady!

Now, after coming a long way, when I sat in solitude and try to recollect my friend’s role in my life, I can see a shimmering light floating towards me carried by the waves in a huge ocean. The shimmering lights assure me that they are there, the shoulders are there to lean on. I bow down my head, gratitude shimmers along my nerves, my blood vessels. I do not share a single drop of blood with them, but they are there for me.

Though lifestyle changed, we have entered into the cyber era. Trust, empathy,caring and sharing no longer remained same like before, still, some good friends exist to listen to you. Go and search them out.

With a long life of friendship– Happy Friendship Day to you all!

Enjoy every day with your friends and feel fortunate.

`Shimmer`

Foggy Morning and The Casual Symphony!

On August 5, 2017 By sayandeepIn Daily Prompts, education, Life1 Comment

My dream home is having a couple of casual corners where I spend the rainy days or extremely foggy mornings reading my favourite book with a cup of hot coffee. Or, if the morning is very unusual, lazy and I have an idea of doing nothing for the whole day but drown myself in the symphonies of the world! Yes, these moments are there in our lives, we desire to enjoy the solitude, enjoy of being alone with life’s all comforts around. A break from the usual routine work allows you to look back to your work, plan for more work and your body and mind are relaxed. Reading good books in a cosy corner in your room will enlighten you about life’s various facets. A story or a fiction teaches the reality of life. You know which things happen, who suffers and how, what is life’s magic and the list is endless. Reading a book casually too can throw light on life’s facts and you become energized with new ideas.

The world is moving very fast, all are just running, not knowing about the destination. Most of the time the future looks foggy, still, people run! The rich, the poor or the middle class, all are in hurry. Surveys show that the number of book readers is declining!

So, here are some ideas of creating a casual cosy corner in your house with a bookshelf around so that you can spend your cloudy winter days or a rainy day or a foggy morning leisurely. As someone said- A foggy morning is the best time to clean the dust off your old books lying on your bookshelf; Open them and read.Or, a day when you want to do anything but would like to be alone with a book and coffee.

cosy 5 — A cosy corner- Books, sofa with cushions and candle light. White is serene and goes well with a casual mood and a rainy day.

cosy3 — Think of a corner like this at your home. A big glass window, close to nature. A cloudy noon, drizzles, you, books and coffee. What can you want more from life?

cosy4 — Want solitude? Have this corner. Enlighten yourself with books and music under soft light. Rain outside will add to the adventurous mood!

cosy2 — How is this corner for a casual day?

cosy1 — Sleep unlimited, read, drink, music. Who cares the outside world?

Hence friends, hope I could reach you. Plan your next foggy day well in advance.

Good luck!

Thanks for Reading!

Casual

Foggy

20 Possible Ways to Fly Healthy:

On July 29, 2017July 29, 2017 By sayandeepIn Daily Prompts, Health3 Comments

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… Well, if you were Superman, travelling would be so much easier. If you’re not ( and if you are, feel free to skip this article and go save the world 😉 ) air travel can be overwhelming and exhausting. Planes are often reputed as cold and flu factories with various germs and bacteria lingering around. Your head may be in the clouds (quite literally) but keep your feet grounding as we provide you with these tips on how to stay healthy while flying!!

1) Get enough sleep before you travel. People who are well rested with adequate sleep are less susceptible to infections.

2) Carry your own travel pillow and blankets as the airlines often reuse them rather than cleaning them between the flights.

3) If you’re travelling with a child make sure your child is up to date on immunisations.

4) Never forget to carry an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Sanitize your hands before eating airline meal or after using the toilet. healthy-on-plane-1-sanitizer

5) Use Alcohol wipes or Anti Bacterial/Viral wipes to disinfect the tray table. 102990139-GettyImages-469661198.530x298

6) Use a new towel or a wipe to open or shut the cubicle door and to use the taps or flush.

7) Dehydrated mucous membranes are prone to infection. Drink bottled water to keep them from drying out. Avoid alcohol and caffeine while flying as they tend to cause dehydration. pexels-photo-75627

8) Don’t use water in the bathroom to brush your teeth. Use bottled water instead.

9) Always sanitize your hands after leaving an airplane bathroom as bacterias like E.Coli, Shigella or Klebsiella are often present on the toilet seats.

10) Try to avoid using seat pockets as previous passengers could have put old tissues there. stm50928730d6f1e20121101

11) Avoid drinking coffee or tea on an airplane as they’re made from water in the airplanes’ tanks. Usually, boiling water up to 100 Degree Celsius for 1 minute kills the pathogens, however, in an airplane it may not often reach the required temperature to kill the pathogens. A person with suppressed immune system should avoid drinking water or anything made out of airplanes’ water tanks. Also, Avoid ice in drinks as they’re usually made from water in the tank.

12) If affordable or possible sit towards the front of the plane as ventilation systems in any commercial aircraft provides a better airflow.

13) Avoid touching surfaces in an airplane bathroom. Use the paper toilet seat cover and wash hands with hot water and soap and use a fresh towel to turn off the tap. Be extra cautious on international flights as there are more chances of people coming back with viruses that our immune systems aren’t used to. 17.

14) Ask sick passengers near you to observe cold and flu etiquettes. If someone near you isn’t covering coughs or sneezes ask them to, even if it makes you feel awkward to do so.

15) Use the personal air conditioning vents as the sophisticated filters present in them removes 99.97 percent of the germs. It also keeps the secondary air flow from your fellow passengers away. Xian_China_Eastern_Airlines_Aircraft_Cabins_Lighting_n_Air-Conditioner

16) Avoid packing a heavy carry on baggage as it can cause back or muscle injury while walking through the airport or lifting it up into the overhead bin.

17) On long international flights get up and stretch periodically or walk up and down the aisle. Sitting in an economy class seat for a long time can decrease blood flow to the lower limbs and cause blood clots in your leg (Deep Venous Thrombosis). Risk factors for DVT are pregnancy, old age, obesity, history of heart disease or history of blood clots.

18) If you’re prone to motion sickness take ginger capsules before boarding the flight. Avoid looking at moving images or reading books. Direct the air-conditioning vent over your head. Listen to soothing music and try to sleep. Motion sickness ends when you fall asleep.

19) Avoid travelling when you are sick as the stress from travelling can further exaggerate the illness.

20) Wash or sanitize your hands after getting off escalators as they’re always full of germs. pexels-photo-327496

Here we go, Now you know the 20 Possible Ways to Have a Healthy and A Germ-Free Flight! Have a safe flight and Happy Journey!!!

Pest
Hidden

To Savour Edibles: Stop Disastrous Soil Pollution.

On July 19, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, education, Environmental Protection, Life1 Comment

The pollution of soil may make the plight of the populace disastrous. There are at least a dozen of components which are affecting us and our environment. Soil pollution is one of the components. Usually, whenever we talk about environmental protection the ‘soil’ part is ignored. The soil is treated as a newlywed bride who has to tolerate all kinds of behaviour come its way. What we don’t do with soil? Digging it unnecessarily, construction, mining, rooting up trees, water flowing abundantly, whenever and wherever; ice caps, chemicals, pesticides, industrial effluents – all are having one shelter-soil. The poor soil gets poorer day by day by spending all its rich on everyone, everything. Little did we realise that the continuous erosion is taking away megatons of topsoil every year? The soil is losing the nutrients, we are losing the land which grows edibles. The amount of waste soil is increasing with increase in population. How many of us realise that poverty and hunger are causing more soil erosion. African countries are running with the most waste lands, deserted of nutrients, causing scarcity of foods. The savoury food days will be bygone soon when we will cherish the memories of having good foods. There are many ways to prevent soil pollution but still enough awareness is not created about it. The quality of soil can be improved by reducing air and water pollution, by wise agricultural practices, by applying methods to prevent erosion etc.

If we can check the disasters caused by ignoring our land, we will be able to savour good edibles. Let us start working either together or individually.

Create awareness against soil pollution, Save Earth.

An inspiring Star -Maryam Mirzakhani

On July 15, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, education, Health, Life, Uncategorized2 Comments

Thought of writing an interesting story after seeing “Moxie” as the prompt word. But then flashed this news – Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the prestigious Fields Medal (Nobel Prize of Mathematics) for mathematics, has died in the US. She was just 40, survived by her husband and a very young daughter. She could not fight anymore. Lost the battle. Breast cancer spread through her bones and attacked her bone marrow. A bright star fell off so soon!! When cruelty hits out, we become numb, lose our nerves, wait quietly for Almighty’s decision.

Maryam Mirzakhani wanted to become a writer in her childhood but took up Mathematics when her elder brother encouraged her. She was the winner of gold medals in International Mathematics Olympiad twice, in 1994 and 1995. Currently, she was teaching Mathematics at Stanford University, USA.

She was born in Tehran, Iran’s capital, in 1977 and went on to complete a bachelor of science in mathematics from the city’s Sharif University of Technology in 1999. Then she moved to the USA to pursue higher studies. Apart from the Fields Medal, Mirzakahani has also been awarded the Blumenthal Award (2009) and the Clay Research Award (2014). She also became the first Iranian woman to have been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences, in 2016.

The only recognised woman Mathematician, that too from a country like Iran. Lots of courage needed to fight against society’s rituals, go to a school and then move to the most progressive country in the world, the USA. She was a student of Harvard University and obtained her Ph. D From the same University. Raised the point of lack of women Mathematicians worldwide. She married a man from other religion. A progressive mind from Iran teaches us about what is the meaning of moxie!! Hats off to her!! The bravest woman, the most intelligent woman on the Earth is no more. My heart filled with grief, why she died so young? A woman’s role model, she could have guided many more women to come up and contribute for the mankind. It’s true that women, in many countries won’t get the same opportunities as men. They struggle, fight against the odds. Maryam is the guiding light for them. She may not be alive, but her story will encourage women folk especially and the human kind in general.

May her soul rest in peace.

Moxie

Ways to Mend a Broken Heart

On July 14, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, Uncategorized3 Comments

Very often we come across the stories of broken hearts. These stories are in plenty, teaching us life’s lessons. Everything teaches you something! Right?

Two are in love, deeply most of the time. The relationship grows to make both happy, happier and the happiest at the end. Both forget the world around them, believing the world is made up of them only. Everything becomes beautiful, worth living. Suddenly something goes wrong. Either, one finds the other a cheater, a liar or simply the relationship ends. One moves on very quickly but the other suffers from a broken heart and complaints, tries to convey the message to the world.

game — The tag line of end of an artificial relationship!!

I read umpteen number of stories on broken hearts. Due to the internet, people’s lives are like open books. We do know about many incidences where the love is defeated, smashed, cheated, and ridiculed! It surprises me, I feel sad and disgusted about the degrading human quality. It takes lots of courage and patience to get out of a heart break, letting it go and moving on. Sometimes people move towards depression, consequently to addiction and even ends life, which is the worst part of a heart break due to lost love.

Is there any need of a tailor here? Who can mend a broken heart! Yes, the family can play the role of a tailor to boost the confidence of the duped. Or, the friends can help. Just say few words of the positive side of life every day, get engaged in work or hobbies, take up a job and do it passionately, enjoy the love nature spreads everywhere. Practice yoga or gymnastics. This rejuvenates mind and body. Be with friends and family, go for a trip to a new place. Travelling to a new place helps to forget the old memories. New experiences replace the olds, slowly but steadily. Take a voyage through the ocean or be nearer to a mountain. The huge ocean or a huge mountain will expand your thinking, your heart will be broadened. A big heart can forgive anything on this Earth.

Life is a book, comprising of many chapters. We have to move through the chapters. Close one chapter and open a new. Try to move out of the bad as quickly as possible. Be strong and full of energy to tackle all the challenges of life. Smile. Smile and smile, grow a positive attitude for all adverse things.

Positivity is the real Tailor!

Tailor

Bumble

On July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Uncategorized3 Comments

What is life? Life is a mess. You plan one thing, the other happens. Sometimes you have pleasant surprises, sometimes it’s the other way. You get fearsome, confused, tensed and bumbled!!

Moving down the memory lane, all of you can find the series of incidences when we dig hard to understand life. Why it happens- man proposes and God disposes of? We can’t find any answer.

Out of all messy moments, there are few we remember forever. Like how I met my husband! Many have a story to tell. When my husband as a groom came to meet me with his family members, I was pretty nervous. Thinking about the outcome of the meeting I bumbled throughout the meeting session. I was thinking about leaving my parents forever, confused about my new destination and of course about the man of my life. How will be a new life? Never felt the anxiety in that way!

The messy moments occurred before preparing for exams and writing exams. So many books to be read, so many answers to be written, so many anxious hearts about my performance are to be calmed down- all made my behaviour for the examination month-bumbled!

Think of travelling to a place-won’t get the desired conveyance. Bumbled?!

Try to pursue a course in a reputed University- not selected. Bumbled?!

Try to attend a ceremony or festival- guests arrived or fall sick. Bumbled?!

What about when a cockroach sits over your head or you just come across a lizard on the wall? Bumbled and you never forget the incident!

Try to cook a dish with lots of interest but realise the empty fuel cylinder half way. Bumbled- right?

So, there are plenty of incidences when we get awestruck and that’s life!!

I saw a snake in my house, right below the place where I was sitting and preparing University question paper. Engrossed in my serious work, I did not notice the door was open and the reptile entered to take rest, may be. Now you may realise what BUMBLE means!! I can’t explain my plight, that day, that moment. It was killed but the real story is really a long one and fearful.

Have a nice time!

Eager to hear from you.

Bumble

Cities of the Dead!!

On July 12, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, UncategorizedLeave a comment

New Orleans, in the USA, is a unique city beside the sea and lying below the sea level. There are many tourist attractions there, one of which is its cemeteries. I travelled to New Orleans in early February of this year and the story of this burial grounds are just interesting. The cemeteries are the large burial grounds with beautiful tombs. Each of the tombs has unique designs. Worth seeing. I never saw a huge burial ground with so beautiful tombs, got awestruck that a heaven can exist on earth! Since the city is on swamps and lies below sea level, it was a huge problem to bury dead bodies. The coffins after some days of the burial used to float up, thus disappointing the sentiments of the people who are near and dear of the deceased.

Hence the solutions were found out. Graves were kept above ground. Vaults were made on the walls of the cemeteries. The rich families built a small house like structures keeping the gates or doors and stairs to go up to the vaults inside. The vaults were stacked one upon another. The poorer families could not afford multiple vaults, so they used the same vault for the deceased if there was a time gap of two years between the deaths. The tombs of different families are placed side by side, and each of the tomb looks like a different house. Cute, small houses standing in a row. There are several rows and the burial ground really looks like a city. I was stunned literally, a heck of time I spent on understanding the concept. From far, the cemetery looks like a heavenly place. Nobody knows how many stories are buried inside!! The Cities of the Dead-New Orleans surprised me. I took rounds of one such City of the Dead, Curious to know each of the stories. All the names of the buried family members were written on every tomb, mostly with the golden colour. Have I not seen the cemetery in New Orleans, I would not have believed that the dead can be respected in such a manner!! Experience and understanding of humanity for the lifetime. I thank God for giving me the opportunity of visiting the place!!

Few photographs captured by me.

IMG_20170210_111044 — vaults are seen with flowers.

Bury

City of Joy

On July 12, 2017July 12, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

I could not post anything for a week as I was travelling. I had a chance to travel to Kolkata, the second largest city in India. Kolkata is the capital of the state of West Bengal in India. It’s one of the most densely populated city and known as “City of Joy”. Other names are ‘City of Palaces” as one can see many heritage buildings and palaces here. its also called ‘City of Procession’ as the citizens are vocal about anything they dislike. So I was quite excited to meet the people of the city. What I love about Kolkata are its foods. Be it varieties of fishes, sweets, countless kinds of snacks, eating outlets and books. Books are everywhere; any kind of book, new or old, you will get in Kolkata. People still read books and are capable of arguing on any topics on the Earth. An argumentive Indian can be seen at any corner of any street, here. The coffee house of Kolkata is the cultural hub of the city where almost all famous Indians who are passionate about art, music and literature visited. Many themes of a movie or concept of a play were born in the coffee house. Many lyrics and many poems were written here. Another aristocratic place is the college street where you will get all book shops, the streets are always buzzing with young students and old intellectuals. The second largest second-hand book market in the world is college street of Kolkata. It is believed that if you can not find the oldest version of any book in college street, then you may not get it anywhere in the world.

The Razabazar Science College is a place where legendary scientists Satyen Bose, C V Raman and Jagadishchandra Bose worked. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, the legendary Chemistry Professor and founder of Bengal Chemicals used to stay in a small room in the first floor of the Science College and cooked his own food. Still the room exists. So, there are innumerable reasons why I like to visit Kolkata!!

The reminiscence of Kolkata dragged me out of my house in this rainy month of July. I hired a cab and went to my favourite place, College Street. The cloudy sky could not deter me, from going out. I started visiting my favourite shops, chit chatting with the shopkeepers as many of them are known to me. Purchased a couple of books, had a cup of coffee too. I did not notice the black clouds hovering over the sky, ignored the thunders too as I was busy in smelling new books! The downpour started, heavy in weight. Not seen the sky gritting its teeth in recent times as I stay in the desert like a place. All shopkeepers dragged the shutters half down, customers took shelters in the shops and wherever they could.

Slowly but steadily water started logging in. Level raised up to our knees after one hour of a downpour. I just got awestruck! Where to go now and how to cross this flowing water filled with all the sand, dust, grits and dirt? I realised the naked truth of a crowded city! How much dirt it accumulates can be estimated when you see the logged water messed with loads of ‘what not’s’. Gosh!! I said and started moving, crossing through the water, pushing back its flow. Disgusting! Holding my purse tight on one hand, and an umbrella in another, I knew lots of grit required to reach my destination- My Sweet Home.

Reached home after three hours of struggle, fully drenched. My jeans, shirt full of all specks of dirt. Grits, sands, dust particles were hugging me tightly. Dream of buying new books, reading few pages of them, holding a cup of coffee, thinking intellectually- all buried. But still, I smiled. This is my city, taught me lessons from my childhood. Witnessed my tears and my joys. I feel grateful, as I reached where I am today- only because of you, Kolkata.

Grit
Bury

Monsoon’s Crush

On July 4, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

It’s Monsoon, raining outside, the weather is dull and damp. What can lift up your mood? Definitely the tangy and spicy food. To add to the light is a dash of lemon!! Lemon and pickles can change the taste of any food, and enhance the seductiveness of your taste bud. Here, I am sharing some food which can be your monsoon crush. The recipes and pictures are collected from Facebook group Everyday Cooking, where I am an active member.

cook — Steamed Rice, Spicy prawns with a dash of lemon

cook1 — Gobi paratha with a dash of pickle

cook2 — Spicy red paneer (cottage cheese) with a dash of lemon

Dash

Not my feet but the Heart!! Scampers

On July 2, 2017July 3, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

What does scamper mean? It’s a quick run with light steps, especially through fear or excitement.

Scampering of a little child is beautiful with the first steps he takes. I remember my son giggling with excitement when he started walking. His laugh, his glittering eyes, his first little steps which were so unstable, still lingering in my mind. He walked quickly for only a few steps and fell down! Tried to get up, succeeded and again took few steps to fell down again. One of the loveliest moments of my life. I was smiling, watching him scampering. Excitation for mum and son was unlimited!!

Only human beings in their childhood are allowed to scamper! Others are small animals, rats, squirrels. Watched them too to scamper.

But why only our little feet which scamper? Why don’t we say that our heart too scampers with emotional rise and fall? The first ride on an aeroplane, on a train, on a car or a boat caused my heart scampered with excitation. I remember to refuse to go inside a cruise ship when I was pretty older, in my University days. Crossing the log to reach up to the cruise was scary for me. I try to imagine many a time, what will be the excitation of a loco driver when he takes his huge vehicle on the track for the first time in his life? Does his heart scamper? How much? What about the first flight of a pilot? How the captain of the ship or cruise feels on his first mission? And the biggest scampering of heart might be occurring when the spaceship is launched, the astronauts are inside!! Have anyone asked them the initial feeling of the mission?

I would like to travel the longest route of my country by a train called Vivek Express. It travels 4273 kilometres in 80 odd hours to reach its destination. One end in the east, Dibrugarh, touches another end point of South Kanyakumari. One more similar train travels from the west end Okha to southern end, Tuticorin. I wish I can finish travelling the long distance with a huge time duration without losing patience. How beautiful the journey will be! Through the hills, lush forests, waterfalls, tunnels and the ordinary plains. Crossing stations through vast regions, different foods, different people, different weathers, different sceneries!! I enjoy meeting people in trains. And the small children are so lovely while scampering through the train’s corridors. They are the most excited passengers in the train. Peeping through the window to watch sceneries till dusk, interacting with every uncles and aunt, those innocent looks and smiles, that sleepy mood! Watching small children and understanding them makes my journey worthwhile. Wish to travel more as a passenger, knowing the world. Let my heart scamper with excitation and fear (while crossing a tough route)!! Don’t forget to watch this beautiful video.

Hope you liked my idea of scampering heart

Passenger

Scamper

Passengers on a Planet

On July 2, 2017July 2, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life10 Comments

Few realise that life is a journey and we are mere passengers on this journey. Start from the same point and reach different destinations during the travel, but at the end return to the same point from where one started. The passengers have different fates, different style of travelling, different destinations to reach. Some like to be quiet, obedient passengers, travel through their journey in a disciplined manner like very obedient children. Some like to take over to the wheels, have fun and drive the vehicle, showing other passengers the way. Some travellers are reckless, don’t want to obey any rule, chaotic; neither they enjoy their trip, nor do they allow their co-passengers to enjoy the ride.

I like to travel. I had the opportunity to enjoy car, bus, train, boat and aeroplane ride. For me, the most enjoyable is a train ride and the most frightening is a plane ride. While travelling in a plane, I always close my eyes and pray when it takes off. Once, up in the air, you are not sure about your fate. Anything may happen. You are a good passenger but you may be disturbed by some unruly one. Some awful passengers, I encountered with are fond of drinking, shouting. Some children just forget that they are up in the air and demand all kinds of food, behave as if they are at home. Some are never friendly and some are full of courtesies, helpful. I came across the stories of ‘missing’ flights and hijacked flights. Some flights turned into ashes. So a journey is always tough, depends on your fate.

When you are unsure, you believe in fate! That’s true.

You may not like to be a passenger, you may like to be a pilot. Any pilot symbolises a leader. A true leader has a purpose of living life.

“People without Purpose Live Wasted Lives.”- A quote from the movie Passenger which always inspired me.

The gist of life is simple. Enjoy your journey. Be an ideal passenger. If possible be a PILOT!

Leave your Mark.

Passenger

Love for Snacks

On June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Health, Life5 Comments

I love to cook. Today’s prompt made me delighted as I have a chance to share my culinary skills with all of you. You become passionate about recipes when foodies are around. Preparing snacks are tough as you should not have anything or everything for snacking! Like your meals, your snacks too should be healthy and nutritious. Here I share some evening snacks I prepared recently. These go well with a cup of tea or coffee.

cutlet — Cutlet prepared with bread, cottage cheese and onions with few herbs .(©Revolving Around Life)

cut — Cutlets with soya granules, boiled potatoes, onion-garlic paste, little spices. (©Revolving Around Life)

paneer — Bread balls with boiled potatoes and cottage cheese fillings. Looks like an egg. Yummy for children. (©Revolving Around Life)

kosum — A tangy nutritious salad with grated cucumber, onions, chillies, coriander leaves, grated coconut, soaked lentils, and lemon juice. (©Revolving Around Life)

custard — Custard with dark chocolate paste and lots of dry fruits. Healthy and easy to make. (©Revolving Around Life)

A healthy drink prepared from tomatoes, carrots, pomegranate. We can prepare with other combinations of fruits and vegetables too. Ver fulfilling to stomach. (©Mithu Gupta, Everyday Cooking)

Here goes the Devil. What I did for my blog today or what the prompt did to me! ‘Snack’ inspired me to prepare this snack for today’s companion for coffee. Innovative indeed! Toast biscuits with cheese spread, peanut butter and choco spread toppings. Though tasty, very easy to make and tempting for children, we should avoid it. **Avoid the reasons for obesity.** (©Revolving Around Life)

Now, you know, what all I wanted to tell about snacks.

Happy Snacking!

Stay Healthy and Fit!

Snack

Sunny Ways of Living: Clean energy is need of the hour.

On June 28, 2017June 28, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts2 Comments

The world population is struggling with getting energy every day. The non-renewable sources are depleting as the demand for it is rising. We must have alternate sources of energies like wind, solar, hydro, thermal etc. One more thing which is causing worries is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, depletion of the ozone layer or in one word we are searching the ways to reduce the carbon footprint. The densely populated cities like Delhi in India is struggling to breathe fresh air. This city was in news recently, post-Diwali, for a high level of toxic gases and other harmful substances in the atmosphere. There are people who think seriously about the conservation of nature, but their number is a handful.

One of the ways to reduce carbon footprint and have fresh air around is the use of clean energy.

For example, what can we do with the solar energy? How much solar energy we get per sunny day? How much solar energy can be obtained only from the super-hot sunny areas like deserts? The quantity is mind-blowing. As the solar energy is diffused we can’t use the entire amount but that much energy is not required to power the entire world. Only one percent is sufficient to meet the demand of the energy we need.

What can we do with solar energy?

Well, to begin with, we can grow our food, we know what photosynthesis is? Hence, sunny days are needed to have our food and fruits and flowers.
Why don’t we go back to ancient days when people used solar energy to dry their clothes, dry anything they wanted, to heat water and even to get fire? Focus a glass piece on a piece of paper, let the sun rays pass through it, and the paper catches fire. One of our childhood game to know how powerful is solar energy.
We can store the solar energy, concentrated solar power to heat water. This hot water can be utilised for bathing, shower, to keep the pool’s water warm and so many other uses where hot water is necessary.
All of us know about Photovoltaic cells (PV) which convert sunlight into DC and with an inverter its converted into AC. These solar cells can be used for lighting lamps, running a motor or spinning a fan. Just imagine how many lights and fans are required in a day for our home? If we can cut down on our electricity bills by using solar cells to half also, we will reduce the burden on non-renewable sources of electricity. At least we will be able to reduce the number of thermal power plants. The solar cells can lit up the street lights, community halls where a large amount of electricity is required.
Just think about replacing fossil fuels with solar modules and panels. Solar panels can be used to run cars, buses, planes and even trains. There are countries like Canada and China which are using solar energy for public transportation. This is a wonderful idea to reduce carbon footprint and rejuvenating the air we breathe.

Solar energy is used for space crafts as well.
Cooking of food can be done with a solar cooker. This is a useful device in the remote areas where the supply of electricity and LPG cylinders are difficult. The people in remote areas are dependent on natural resources like wood and coal. If they can utilise solar energy at its maximum then the carbon footprints will be reduced to some extent.
For developing countries where electricity is still a luxury, sunny days are a blessing if the energy can is used wisely. Technological development towards clean energy sources needs aggression.
For developed countries, there is no dearth of electrical energy, but the use of clean energy will preserve the natural sources. Hence, it is required that the developed nation promote the technology for clean energy usage and guide the whole world. The waste of energy should be stopped as much as possible.
We have plenty of uses of sunlight right from sterilising water to lighting homes. Many more ideas are coming up. We have to put them together and get rid of the power crisis, as well as preserving our environment.

image sources: news.energysage.com

Sunny

My Joyride on Wheels

On June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Let’s imagine a life without wheels. Impossible? Yes!

When you have a life, you have a wheel. You are riding a wheel to reach your destination.

From the time you are born, you are introduced to a wheel.

The new-born baby on mother’s lap comes home riding a car, or a vehicle. Life’ wheels start running.

A perambulator takes you out for your joy, a vehicle takes you to school, your dad or mum takes you for shopping, you go for a picnic, you go for a tour, you learn to watch time in a clock, you ride a giant wheel during a festival….the list is endless. How would be life without a wheel? It will be dead.

So is my life revolved around wheels? Yes.

The first fascination about wheel was my dad’s bicycle. I used to watch its wheels, how it goes round. Sometimes watched the wheel running and put my fingers to stop the wheel.

Got hurt but never stopped experimenting with the wheel. Pushed the standing bicycle and seen its wheel moving, that’s the curiosity of a child! My dad was wise, learnt his daughter is fond of bicycle. So he taught me how to ride a bicycle at the tender age of eight. It was a huge cycle for me, I fell down many times. Had cuts, stitches, bandages, but never deterred to ride the cycle. That was my fascination. We had cycle rickshaws to take us to school. What a journey that was, every day. The bell of the rickshaw arriving at our gate, a quick rush to occupy a good seat. Grew up little and started cycling to school. All pleasant memories. Cool days, the coolest students. I grew up in a small town which has very good ring roads and plenty of trees. Bicycling along those roads under the sheds of trees were really joyful. When friends were around, there was a competition of running with cycles very fast.

Then came the graduation day and my dad was ready with my bike. I used to go to university with my new bike. But still missed the bicycle days. Now I drove a car but nothing matches the joyride on a bicycle.

One more wheel which fascinated me always is the wheels of a train. How the train arrives at a station. The big metal wheels make so much noise! I close my ears and eyes. Always feel that no one should come under those wheels! They are so scary!

What I am talking about? All of you know the importance of wheels. Right?

Now, I will tell you the wheel which I loved the most in my childhood.

Have you ridden a giant wheel during any festival? Maybe, you have. I like them but not much.

They don’t fascinate me.

Have you ever experienced the smaller version of that amusement ride? See the picture below…

I was just mad about it. We had many festivals. During that time we used to get this small wheels made up of wood. Only four boxes, each box could have four children. Small children were fascinated about it. Whenever it took rounds all children on the ride, used to giggle and shout. When the wheel used to gain its speed there was a feeling of fear, but that was the joy of riding it. One laughs, shouts, gets scared with the speed of the wheel. I can’t remember now, how many times I rode this wheel. Just crazy about it so much that many times I was the only child for whom those kind uncles had to move that wheel!! The alone child moving and taking the joyride on the wheel! Those days were calm, otherwise, my passion could have been a leading story for many news channels!! Nowadays, I don’t see these manually operated wheels, the electric giant wheel has replaced them. The innocence lost with technology.

Electric Wheel

The innocence lost with technology!!

Top 10 Smartest Countries in 2017

On June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 By Swastika DasIn education1 Comment

One of the most popular ways to measure intelligence is by an IQ test. There are other ways to measure intelligence in a nation as well like school test scores in areas like science and math. Another way to look at the intelligence of a country is to examine a country’s contributions to the fields of math and science.

The country with the best education system in the world and the best school-aged test scores is said to be Finland. IQ is seemingly based on problem solving and quickness, which are not always things that can be taught. Education, on the other hand, can be more geared towards memorization and general knowledge, which isn’t as useful on an IQ test.

The US does not feature on this list, sitting in joint 19th place on 98 points (just below the median IQ score of 100). Canada fares worse, on 97 points, whilst the UK and China manage to score slightly better, at 100. No country scores especially highly; not a single nation ended up with an average score equal to the intellectually gifted level (IQ 130+).

India is at 25th Position with Average IQ Score of 82!

In this list, let us take a look at the top ten countries in terms of intelligence, ranked by IQ as well as other factors for 2017…

1] Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s students receive the second best math and science test scores compared to any other country and is said to have the second best education system after Finland. Many students in Hong Kong enrol in extra classes outside of school to round out their educations better and improve their future prospects. Their average IQ is 107.

2] South Korea

South Korea is the most “innovative” of all countries in the world. Their students have the third best test scores compared to any country, and they spend a lot of money on research and development projects. South Korea is said to have the fastest and most reliable internet in the world. Such high-speed internet is a sign of its commitment towards Science and Research and could be linked to their technological progress. As a result of difficult testing, long school hours, and competitive schools, South Korea is known for having a high suicide rate among students. The average IQ in South Korea is 106.

3] Japan

Japan is providing the best quality of education to its students. Japan is notorious for having a difficult childhood education philosophy, with students studying long hours to prepare for difficult exams. When it comes to scientific research, Japan has increasingly been one of the top countries in the world. The University of Tokyo makes lists of the best universities to attend in the world and is considered to be the best university in Asia. The literacy rate in Japan is ninety-nine percent, one of the highest in the world. The average IQ in Japan is 105.

4] Taiwan

Taiwan, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. When it comes to the test scores of its students, it comes in forth, in a tie with Japan. Taiwan is world renowned for its advances in technology, as well as for its devotion to its public education system. Many people in Taiwan are bilingual. Because one of Taiwan’s biggest trading partners is the United States, many young people have studied to become fluent in English to give themselves increased career prospects. The average IQ in Taiwan is 104.

5] Singapore

Singapore is the little island city-state at the southern part of Malaysia. It is an important area for technology, as well as business and finance. Its students are always around the top in the world when it comes to performance in the fields of math and science. In fact, they currently are number one in the world when it comes to student test scores. Singapore’s great education system might come as a result of their powerhouse status when it comes to trade. Their super high GDP and ease of trade provide them with tonnes of money to fund education and social projects. The average IQ in Singapore is 103.

6] Netherlands

Netherlands has a very good education system for children, ranking ninth when it comes to the test scores of school-aged children in the fields of math and science. Twelve years of compulsory education has helped to lift Netherlands to the higher strata of countries rated by average IQ. Netherlands has an education system that has been ranked as the ninth best in the world by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The average IQ in Holland is 103.

7] Italy

The tradition of innovation in science and technology in Italy goes back to hundreds of years, of course. When we think of Italy, we are quickly lead to thoughts of the Roman Empire or the Italian Renaissance. A nation that produced some of the greatest sculptors, painters, writers, and poets like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri and Galileo Galilei. They’re carrying it today as well with an above average progress in the fields of math, science, physics, and other areas. The average IQ in Italy is around 102.

8] Germany

Germany has one of the highest GDP’s in the world, beating out European rivals France and the UK with an astonishing nominal GDP of $3.4 trillion. It has some of the oldest and most highly rated universities in the world. For example, Heidelberg University, which was established in the south-western city of Heidelberg in 1386, has been associated with 55 Nobel Prize winners. It has been ranked the 50th in the world by QS World University Rankings.

Germany historically has had a high percentage of great thinkers. When one thinks of the fields of philosophy, science, and arts. There have been many influential German minds. This is likely due to a very high amount of German citizens graduating with degrees in science, math, technology, and engineering. In fact, they have the third highest number of people graduating with STEM degrees, despite the fact that their population isn’t really that large compared with many other countries. Germany has the best GDP of any country, and also has some of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities. The average IQ in Germany is 102.

9] Austria

Austria is a small landlocked nation that shares borders with countries like Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Education is free and compulsory for Austrian children for at least nine years, with many going on into higher education. Austria has the second highest percentage of people with PhDs who are in the workforce of any country. For every thousand people in the country, around seven females and nine males have a PhD. The average IQ in Austria is 102.

10] Sweden

The tenth country on this list Sweden, has a good education system, with most of the education costs covered by the government so that education is accessible to anyone with the mental aptitude. They come second in the world when it comes to computer usage at work. In Sweden, more than seventy-five percent of workers use computers at their jobs. They also have one of the highest populations of citizens with degrees in higher education in the world. The average IQ in Sweden is around 101!

Source: Statistics Brain Research Institute [Average IQ By Country] & Gazette Review

Local

Cringe!! Throw it out.

On June 25, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, ParentingLeave a comment

15 easy ways to LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!!

As Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Accept who you are, just be yourself, and you’ll feel a world of difference. “Be yourself” to live life to the fullest. Practice the following to avoid seeing you cringed.

Know your likings, your passions and try every day to live with it.
Forget the past mistakes as mistakes are part of life.
Forgive yourself and forgive others. Let go of the things which do not motivate you.
Think positive about everything as much as possible. I know it’s a difficult task as all awkward cannot be taken positively. Spend time with people who take life positively.
Life’s journey is difficult. Take life’s every day as it comes by. Surround yourself with true friends who will be your support during your difficulties.
Similarly, try to volunteer for any cause to make people happy. Remember what you give, you get it back.
Travel as far as possible. Know different foods and different way of living. Travelling energises you, enlightenment gives a feeling of fulfilment.
It’s important to learn from childhood. Learn mannerism, etiquette, civilised way of dressing and way to eat food. The good manners will not land you and your friends in any embarrassing situation.
Handle your closest relationship carefully. If it’s not working in a manner you wish, then walk out. Lingering with bad relationships for a longer time may make you cringed very often, now and in future.
If you feel cringed for a behaviour of your own, maybe it is your parent, sibling or friend, convey it clearly to them. Avoid going out with them if they fail to improve. The feeling of being cringed may take a toll on your mind and body.
Try new things very often. You can keep your weekends for new food, new clothes, new movies or new places. The world is vast. Try to explore its beauty whenever you have spare time.
Try to spend time with nature, go green. Grow plants. Take a round in nearby park. Or visit places with hills, mountains, snow, oceans, forests. The more you go near to nature, the more you feel refreshed.
Listen to music, sing and dance if you can. Paint or draw with colours. What makes you happy?
Express gratitude for what you have. Do not compare with others or run a rat race to possess things. Rather learn to draw a thin line between want and need.
Lastly, meditate at least twice in a week. Try to retrospect your life. Join the missing dots. Feel the calm and be happy.

Cringe

Illusions Unlimited

On June 25, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, ParentingLeave a comment

We cannot deny that our life revolves around illusions. We laugh, smile, cry or feel happy or sad on how we live. We want to control not only our lives but also the lives of people we live with. Our want and needs have no demarcations. Our unlimited want of happiness-mental and material, drive us madly. We often forget we landed here alone and will go back alone, empty handed. Or, we understand the Philosophy of life but want to live life to the fullest by tasting all materialistic bits and pieces.So what for we are living? What are the things we want to possess? A deep thinking with your eyes closed will take you to the real meaning of illusions.

I, at some point in time in my life, lived with loads of illusion. I was a small baby girl, just learnt how to speak, how to walk. It was like seeing the first light, first know-hows of life. Dad used to take me along with him, sometimes on his lap, sometimes holding my fingers, he tried to show me the life around us. Mum, at the same time, fed me, telling stories. It happens with all babies, they fall asleep at any time of the day or night and mums have to struggle to feed them. I was no exception. My mum used to tell me so many stories to keep me awake while feeding me dinner. All the stories were fairy tales. I, the smallest child on the Earth, kept my eyes open to listen about the Prince Charming, how he arrived and offered his love for the princess. He took his love after doing impossible wonders and then they are married, lived happily ever after. Sometimes learnt that Prince came in the disguise of a beast or a golden frog! And got pleased with princess’s answer, took her away in the whitest horse. I thought all the tales as true. What an illusion!!

Then came the stories of Cinderella, it took my mum three days to finish that story. She did it intentionally to keep me illumined about the prince. What a wonderful story! I was illumined completely, dreamt of becoming Cinderella one day!! The illusionary Prince charming vanished once I grew up and I knew no such prince existed!!

Then the Christmas nights, stories of Santa, the socks full of gifts!!

The stories of fairies, their visits during our sleep.

The ghosts!! Who has not mistaken any object as a ghost in his lifetime?

Or, at least once, you thought the rope was a snake!

With all these illusionary ideas we grew up. The one I loved the most and want to remain illusioned about it is the MOON.

Sleeping on the roof, looking at the sky, the blue, serene, calm moon called me every day in my childhood. I wished I could land up there like Neil Armstrong. The craters of the moon, I illumined as the big palaces, where an old lady sitting and making the yarns out of cotton. Even I wanted to reach to the moon by using a ladder. I was in love with the sky and the stars and the moon for a long time, read every story about them and thought about touching them. Later in life, I realised my illusionary ideas and laughed at myself. The innocence of childhood has seen the most of the illusions, living life with illusions, but those days were the sweetest days of my life.

I wish to go back to those days when illusions drove me with lots of dreams on my eyelids.

Illusion

Salute To The Committed.

On June 23, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Health, Life3 Comments

Committed, we are all. To our professions, to our duties for our children, to everything we do. We are committed to ourselves to see our intentions for the living are fulfilled. Life without a purpose does not bear any meaning. If we achieve our purpose of living we feel proud.

Think about the soldier fighting for us on the border, fighting against all odds to keep us safe. How is he committed?

Think of that social worker who has only intended to do works for people. How are they committed? Remember Mother Teresa?!

Think of the doctor who takes rounds after rounds to see his patients cured. He forgets sleep and food sometimes.

Think of the surgeons who thought about the heart transplantation and head transplantation of late. And those in search of medicines to cure cancer.

Think of the scientists working in NASA, searching for another habitable planet.

The scientists and the people involved in exploring the Earth, space, ocean, deserts and Antarctica for the benefits of human being.

The people who are committed towards the benefits of society are really blessed. They are the children of God. Who can leave a mark, remains alive after death is the really committed people.

#Salute.

Commit

Musing Memories

On June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts1 Comment

Every one of us, who has the opportunity to look back to childhood days will agree that those were the best days of our life. When we were children we mimicked our elders. We played with kitchen items, cooked foods, prepared fake tea and coffee and offered them to all the elderly guests visiting home. I can remember my childhood in many ways. As there was no technology around, the days were very innocent. Playing games and reading books were part of our lives. Whenever I remember my childhood days I become nostalgic about the presence of ‘papers’ in my life. Papers were around me, in plenty. I did not know how to read from a high-end mobile phone or iPad! My dad used to buy lots of books with all kinds of pictures on them. Books were very attractive those days. We learnt names of flowers, animals, creatures, fishes, birds, all kinds of vehicles, foods, fruits, from books. The pictures were so attractive and colourful to win the heart of any child. I used to keep all my books and notebooks very nicely, taking so much care of all of them like they are my own children. The new season in school, the arrival of new books, notebooks and covering brown papers. Who can forget those days of our life! All throughout the year my every textbook, notebook and pencil box was looking new. I set examples for all my other friends and for my sisters too that how to maintain study materials. The secret of over caring was the smell of the new books or new papers. I always have fallen in love with that smell. I still remember opening the new books very slowly and taking them upwards near to my nostrils and a deep breathe…..Ahh!! How I say, how I loved you!!

That smell of a new book!

I was afraid if I reopen the books frequently then I will lose that smell. The innocence of childhood it was! Now whenever I remember, I smile. My favourite books were handwriting books where I used to learn cursive writings and practised writing to improve my handwriting. The drawing book was very attractive as some figures were always drawn on it and We had to draw the same on the other side of the page. So I was always curious to see what are the figures drawn on it. When we grew up the colour papers entered into our life. We made so many materials out of colour papers. Come any festival and we were ready with scissors and colour papers to prepare decorative pieces. The joy of creating designs with all friends together cannot match any luxury. There was a subject called work education where we learnt to make greeting cards and invitation cards using coloured papers. So many story books, cartoon books like Tintin, Phantom, Mandrake, magazines, sports magazines were part of our life. I can remember the paper packets of grocery shops. We never knew plastic bags. Either there were jute, cloth or paper bags to carry things. We were not knowing anything about conservation of forests or save trees. Never had we predicted the environmental pollution in our childhood. So, never anyone pushed forward the concept of the paperless way of life, what we are practising now.

Who could forget the rainfall, water clogging and our excitation of making paper boats!! Lovely paper boats of various sizes and shapes. All children used to come out with paper boats after a round of rainfall, floating them in the water and watching the rainbow up in the sky. Beautiful memories! I don’t see, nowadays children enjoying their childhood in this way. We are losing the nature, the natural beauty, the natural life. Slowly we are moving towards ‘paperless’ days- digital life is taking over. How the life would be without papers? Will we lose the smell of a new book? I can’t guess anything. Within few years I have experienced lots of changes. With time, ‘natural’ is replaced by ‘artificial’. Maybe the days are not far away when we, the older will miss papers but the younger will enjoy a digital life!

Slowly we are moving away from nature, aren’t we??

Paper

New ambitions and Old Chains

On June 21, 2017June 21, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Life is a joyride in the loop line.

Twenty-first century, new ideas, new technologies every day, new fashion, new thoughts are driving people crazy. Everyone wants to taste the new gears, to reach new heights. Are our girls falling behind? No, not at all. They too are striving forward with the boys. We talk about gender equality, calculate gender gap index, calculate the sex ratio of every country. The statistics are not encouraging but not the worst either. Things are much improved with the girls and women. Many women are at the top of positions, winning medals, running countries.

You try to peep into any field and you find a successful lady there. It’s required that the women folk must contribute in the developmental ideas for the benefit of the society. They constitute the half of the total population!

Try to go deeper into the sea. Are women happy? Are they capable of breaking the glass ceiling or the thread of development of women takes a round and comes back to the same spot- making a loop?

An incident shook me recently which made the ground for writing today’s blog. A bubbly young, pretty, intelligent civil engineer and a PhD scholar who has good publications to her credit committed suicide. Very recently this news hit all the TV news channels and the newspapers. Many articles are written about her. I too came across the news, the plight of the girl hit me at the bottom of my heart. Are we civilised enough? The girl died because her father could not pay the dowry, the groom’s family asked for. In this century, this incident happened. The mostly educated, independent, a scholarly girl could not bear the torture and found solace in death. Her father, at the hospital, uttered that he did the mistake of spending money on her education, rather he could have saved it for her marriage. I understand it’s the pain and agony.

The same old story. A girl child born and you start thinking about her marriage. But the society tells you that it has progressed, the girl child is no longer a burden. You feel the dilemma and decide to take a joy ride in the loop line. After few years the line ends at setting up an arranged marriage, the dowry negotiation, the restrictions a girl suffers from her family. You realise nothing has changed!!

Why? Why the new ambitions and old restraints are still meeting? What are the reasons we are unable to cut the thread which is making the loop again and again and in this century too? When our mindset, which oppresses women will change? When will we be able to call us as ‘progressed’ in the truest sense?

I am waiting.

Loop

Meddling Mom-In-Law.

On June 20, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, ParentingLeave a comment

Rupsa is a lovely, bubbly girl in her twenties. Just got married, her in-laws live with her in a palatial house. Husband Manish is a very handsome, well-educated man who loves Rupsa so much that he never forgets to ask her about any kind of inconvenience in the new household. For Rupsa, the house was new, the people were new as she did not know about Manish and her family earlier. It was like a dream marriage. The prince came, liked her so much that he could not wait for more than a week. The marriage took place all of a sudden. Rupsa and her parents were in dilemma to decide the venue, food, guests and before settling on anything, Manish’s family did all the rituals and Rupsa was just robbed away from her parents. She was happy. Mother in law tried to teach her the new dishes, took care of her clothes, her makeup, her wardrobe, jewellery and what not. For everything she has to ask mom- in -law, wait for her approval. But she felt happy. It was like her own mom guiding her. Father- in- law was her team mate in any kind of rule breaking. Have a chess round in between the work or discussing political affairs of the country. Pa- in- law was just giving her company as like her dad. What else a girl can demand? Manish was loving, caring and fulfilling all her wishes. A small family in a lovely house, God was very kind.

Came the good news. The much awaited news of arrival of a grandchild made Rupsa’s mom- in- law very happy. She was elated so much that she could not resist herself from declaring that from now on, she will take care of everything about Rupsa. Her food and timings of all activities, right from getting up from the bed to going to sleep in the night, will be monitored by the would be grandma. Initially, Rupsa could not understand what it was all about as it was first pregnancy. Slowly after two months, she started realising that all the rituals done by her mom in law are pure interference to block her freedom. Complete meddling!! She could not have the food she likes. All foods were too healthy, too bland. For her, every movement there came a cautionary word ‘Take Care’ or ‘don’t do’. Now she turned up to Manish. Asked him for help. Manish is a really good guy. Took Rupsa out of the house, convincing his mother. They savour food outside the house, watched movies. Life for Rupsa came back to normal, but her mom- in- law did not stop meddling. Rupsa was happy with Manish, so she tolerated and ignore her mom- in- law’s activities.

Manish had to leave home one day as there was an important conference in a different city.He had to be there for three days. He was not willing to go, but the job rituals, one has to obey. So Manish left home by a flight and promised Rupsa that he will come back on time. Three days later, when all were watching TV and Rupsa was waiting in the terrace for Manish’s arrival, there was a scream of her pa- in- law. Rupsa came running down the stairs, saw her pa- in- law crying and shouting. Before Rupsa could understand anything, her mom in law stated that Manish’s plane crashed. It all happened because of the ill-fated child to be born and the inauspicious mother of the child. This was her statement “ kill the child, the ill-fated, lost his father before even seeing the light”. She started hitting Rupsa. Rupsa felt the pain in the abdomen and fainted.

When she revived her consciousness, she found Manish standing beside her. She was on the hospital bed. Tried to understand what might have happened. She saw her own parents standing in a corner weeping, sobbing continuously. Rupsa was told by her mom in law that the plane crashed was not Manish’s. Her pa in law did that mistake of learning the correct flight number and the unfortunate incident happened which took a toll on Rupsa and her child’s health. Rupsa listened quietly. Not uttered a word. Called her dad and called Manish. She declared that she would not stay with in-laws, rather she would love to stay in her parents’ home. Too much meddling of her mom in law with her life was now suffocating her. She wants her child to be free of all kinds of superstitions, she wants her child to grow with humanitarian values, not with any kind of blind beliefs. She got up from the bed, moved towards her mom, and went out of the sight of Manish and his parents.

Manish tried to ask her to reconsider as his mother’s behaviour was an emotional outburst, but Rupsa did not stay back, only assured Manish that she may come back once the child was born. Let Manish understand her trauma and wait till she returns.

Meddle

The Killing Alzheimer’s

On June 19, 2017June 19, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Health, LifeLeave a comment

Have you ever watched a nail-biting finish of world Cup football match or have seen your favourite sports star winning the game after the hardest fight? Or, have you could reach the airport to board the plane at last minute? Or, arrived for the job interview in last minute? All of us, have, at a certain point of time realised the feelings of ‘relieved’ to the core of our bones. I have also experienced so many “last moments” in my life that now can’t bear this kind of tensions at all. So, I try to avoid last minute arrivals nowadays but can’t help last minute win of my favourite football team.

The most pathetic moment of excitation of my life seen my grandpa missing from home. He was a Professor working in a renowned University. He was a scholarly person and had to travel to various colleges for up gradation of the Philosophy Departments and designing the curriculum. We had a farmhouse too in a nearby village. My grandpa was very fond of gardening and he used to visit the farmhouse on the weekends. When I was only five years old, my parents along with me went to visit my grandparents during my summer vacation in school. With grandparents everything becomes different. The most pampered days, foods, roaming, shopping and lots of chocolates and sweets were an everyday affair. After two days of our arrival, my grandpa had a call from a college Principal requesting him to solve a problem related to their work and he agreed to attend the meeting. The place was only two hours journey by train from our place. As usual routine work to finish, my grandpa left for the station and asked us to go to the farmhouse as he would come back directly to the farmhouse in the evening. We also were happy and along with my grandma, we arrived at the farmhouse. We enjoyed whole day, my father was fond of fishing, I also enjoyed with him. The day spent so well. In the evening we were waiting for Grandpa to arrive. My mother prepared a special sweet and snacks for him. But, to our surprise, he did not come back. The clock ticked it’s time to midnight, my grandma was out on the street, my dad started calling neighbours, and the moment of terrible anxiety gripped us. On those days, we didn’t have mobile phones, no internet, no communication was available.

There was no news of train accidents too. The night passed with anxiety, grief, predicting the worst possible news. In the early morning, next day, my dad and neighbouring uncles went to police station to file a missing report. All disheartened, tears in eyes we were sitting numbly. Could not predict what went wrong! My grandma went inside to pray to God and closed the door. I fall asleep on my mother’s lap. My dad sat on a chair like a statue, no amount of consolations could feed him a cup of tea!

Time passed and it was about noon, I woke up as I was feeling hungry. I looked at my mother but didn’t dare to ask for food. There was a knock on the door and a voice calling “Joy”…..my dad’s nickname. We were dumbstruck, we knew that voice, its grandpa out there. My mother just rushed fast towards the door and as if holding her breath she opened it wide with bangs!! Grandpa standing with two other men we didn’t know. Our eyes forgot to blink, we got up, moved slowly towards the door, didn’t believe having him right in front of us!! What a relief!!! Till today could not forget that day of my life. At that age, I experienced the worst anxiety and the best relief!

The story unfolded. My grandpa boarded a wrong train and arrived at a wrong place. He could not realise what he did, where he arrived. He got down from the train when co-passengers told the train has reached the last station. He sat in a place in the station and tried to remember where he was supposed to go. As he could not help himself, he sat in the same place. After the whole day passed, in the night, the station vendors got curious about him. From his appearance they guessed that he must be any dignified person, they tried to know his home address. My grandpa could not tell them anything but shown all his papers. The kind-hearted people could know his address from his identity card and boarded a train in the morning to our village place. Thankfully, the identity card was reading our farm house address. So, the two men decided to accompany him up to our house. Our heart felt the gratitude never like before and after. They took food with us and left for their home and now they are our extended family. We were not technologically advanced those days, but people were with angelic hearts!!

My Grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and took abode to heaven three years later.

Relieved

Fathers are Angels

On June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life, ParentingLeave a comment

Father.. Dad… Papa… Abba.

Defining father’s role to shape our life makes us emotive. Close our eyes and think about your dad. What he did for you?

Right from your birth, he takes care of you. You start walking by holding his fingers. He is the only man, on whom you rely so much that when he throws you up in the air and catches you again, you laugh immensely. Think your dad showering love on you and you can’t stop laughing and smiling. The most precious moments of happiness comes from dad. He shows you how to wear your shoes, how to tie the shoelace. How to put up your school dress, how to ride a bicycle. He encourages you for fishing and teaches how to gobble up fish separating the bones. He takes you on a joy ride in his bike or for a long drive on a rainy day! Dad is so close to your heart who teaches you lessons, helps to solve Maths, appreciate your drawings, and introduces you to dancing and sometimes too weird music. Have you watched movies with your pa? Horror or adventurous it must be. Went for trekking or tried to roast a chicken or had a feast with barbequed? Swam in a pool or a pond, dad gives the company. Run, fight, box, play chess, or football, father is everywhere. Want a gift, want your school fees, look up to your pa. And who saves you from your growling mother? It’s your darling dad!

We can’t imagine life without father’s affection. Blessed are those who get father’s love for a longer period in life.

A father does all his duties quietly as if these duties are his life. Never demands. Devotes himself to his wife and children’s happiness. Forgets in the way, what are his wishes? His passions? Sometimes he feels low, depressed but bottles all it up! We never ask him whether he wins every day, in his life’s battle of keeping his family alive and happy. We presume that he can’t lose. Dad is the winner, always.

In reality, a loving and caring father bottles up all his emotions, tight. Never lets that bottle to be opened by anyone. He lives for others. His divine pleasure is to keep all of us happy.

Happy Father’s Day !!

Celebrate having a father in your life, EVERYDAY !

Bottle

Turn the Bottle Down!

On June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Emotions are part of human life. Out of all emotions, anger is destructive. Managing anger is an art.

If you feel angry at a certain point, at your workplace or home, you must know how to express it so that you can put up your viewpoint without hurting others. If you can do it, you are blessed. Most of the people can’t manage anger. Either they become furious and abusive or they do not express anything, keep all the assaults in their heart. And this bottled up anger never shrinks. Imagine a relationship where every day some expectations are not meet with, the anger grows but not expressed thinking the valuable relation may die out. At workplace the employee is harassed by the boss, unable to express the disappointment, the employee bottles up the anger. It explodes one day when the bottle overflows leading to the worst of expressions including murder. The incidences are many, which were written about or picturised in movies.

Many a time we have witnessed mass movements, candlelight marches, revolutions, where the bottled up anger gathers public to take it to the streets. Until that point, the authorities at the helm of affairs don’t care to address the issue. The bottled up anger and its explosion did many wonders but basically one should avoid bottling up emotions. When the anger is at a personal level, it’s better to express, be it in a loud and clear way or in a much uglier way! But end it up without bottling it. The sudden eruption of anger may be considered as an uncivilised way of expression but it is the much more convenient way to convey our displeasure. Bottling up emotion hurts you, takes a toll on your health. The longer period of bottling up anger has seen cardiovascular diseases, depression and hypertension.

Research has shown that we can learn anger management. Discover the various ways to grip over negative eruptions.

Do not bottle it up. Do not hurt yourself.

Bottle

Romanticism Blossomed

On June 17, 2017June 17, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

A lazy day began with incessant rain.

Nature is pouring out all its agony and pain.

Just passed through a hot scorching, torturing summer.

With the sun at its full glaze, showing its cruelty at its best.

Human life doesn’t know to stop, went out for work every day

Without air conditions on, as there were power failures,

Life at the peak of struggles to survive, water scarcity,

Fruits, vegetables without their lustres, trees seemed helpless

For a drop of water, heat waves beating them ceaselessly.

I felt for everyone, felt for the mother Earth…

The wait seemed endless, as the global warming, dense population,

Non-stop demand from nature, torturing all through the year?

Will it shower us with affection or it will show us the ugly side- revenge?

Will the clouds blossom there up in the sky?

Will the prayers of every living being reach the sky?

And will the sky burst out in tears?

The wait is over. The sky is bloomed with clouds.

What a lovely sight. Thunderstorms, lightings, and rain.

Water everywhere. Lush greens everywhere.

Nature blossomed again.

Moods enthralled with music, guitars, fried pakoras.

Romanticism Blossomed !!!!

Blossom

Weave your creation!

On June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Creating something every day make life purposeful. What can you create? An idea, convert that idea into realism is creation. Draw and paint with colours, paint, build a machine, construct a house, innovate ideas to help society, create a methodology for easy teaching, do research to prepare a medicine to cure and the list is endless. Imagine the word “create” goes missing from us. There will be no music, no art, no dance, no circus, no sports, no games, no programmings, no new recipes, new items of clothing, no no no….life becomes standstill. Just no life without its creator.

Don’t you feel the most important word is ‘create’?.

I would like to share what I like about creation. I like the weavers and weaves. They are the magical creators on Earth. They create fairy tales with threads. They create colours and designs on the clothes we wear. Blessed are the weavers who keep everyone happy with their creations!

I will share some of the weaves India is lucky to possess…

How is the journey through the beautiful and colourful creations?! Hope you liked it.

Create

Total Essence of Life!

On June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life2 Comments

Forgive and forget, if you can, to have a happy life. Forgive people for their mistakes and forget anything bad that has happened to you. Let positive energy surround you. Spread love and happiness as much as possible. You live only once. Live life to fulfil your purpose of being here. Experience, accomplishment, peace, contentment are the words which should surround us. A short note from me today for all of you!

Stay Happy, Stay inspired
Have a sense of wonder!
Believe in yourself
Read books
Love your work
Accomplish your passion
Love your friends and family
Be helpful to others
Never Regret
Listen to your heart
Make life simple!!

If you don’t follow your heart, you might spend the rest of your life wishing you had!

Total

Paragon of Serenity

On June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life1 Comment

What actually we want from the lady of the house? That she should be a paragon of affection and love. Taking care of everyone around her, preparing awesome food, helping everyone getting ready on time, raising her children in a perfect way, motivational factor for her husband, adorable daughter in law, a perfect home manager. If it’s more than that then we start idolising her. I am fortunate to have that idol in my life.

Devyani aunty is a close acquaintance of our family. We knew her as my mum and she was working in the same school. She was the Principal and my mum was working under her. As their interests were similar, they became bosom friends. Aunty was an amazing cook too and my mum used to get interesting recipes from her. And you know what, anyone who can satisfy your stomach, becomes your favourite. Knowingly or unknowingly you start admiring her and fall in love with her! So, this is the secret, the foodie me, became her cajoled child. Her daughter was also a close friend of mine. Her way of carrying herself at home and in school, managing home and taking care of her children, friends and relatives; altogether she was a learning station.

Slowly, we moved apart. Our marriages, Parents’ ill health and my career kept me busy. I lost both my parents and thought of leaving my native place. My husband too was interested in new challenges and we moved to a new city, far away from our original place where we used to have Devyani aunt around.

Little did I imagined what was in store for me in this new modern city!! The new aroma of the city was so attractive that we were almost out of the house every day, enjoying the beauty of the city. The attraction of visiting a huge shopping mall, multiplexes, eateries with pizzas and burgers were just alluring. In this way, while roaming in a mall, I met my idol, Devyani aunty. It was so sudden, so unpredictable, so amazing. How can I express my feelings of having my another mum around? I wasn’t moving, remained standstill, tried to understand it wasn’t a dream and so did aunty. The initial pause got over, we ran towards each other and hugged tightly. Moment of eternal peace indeed! We enquired about each other, we cried, we laughed, we hugged each other again.

Aunty stays in the same city where I landed with my family! God is Great.

As she was, not changed a bit. Took me to her house. Nicely decorated, peaceful, serene, beautiful home. Aunty stays alone!!

She unfolded her story when I expressed anxiety on her staying alone. Her husband died of cancer a couple of years back. Son is a brilliant, successful engineer who decided to leave home for a better opportunity. Daughter got married to a handsome guy and has cutest of the children. She stays in a nearby city and visits her in the summers. Her son and daughter in law visit her once in three years. They are in touch over the phone. I was moved to tears. I insisted her to call back her son or at least, daughter to stay with her. But as she was, a paragon of serenity, a perfectionist, consoled me. She said, her time passes with the Doberman Jimmy, the fishes in the aquarium and few species of birds in the balcony space. She has kept water and seeds for birds and has a nice terrace garden. Kind hearted lady, goes to a centre too, twice a week, to teach the special children. She said that she does not want to keep her children in a cage of responsibilities. She believes in love. Let her loves fly high, let their wings fly as high as possible. True love returns back. Her children, too, love her. They will come back if they find her in distress. She believes. May her beliefs come true.

I took a leave for that day thinking about her and her ideology. How much love one can show! How much selfless one can be! My inner voice said, “Learn”.

Hats off aunty!!

Now, I don’t forget to visit her once in a week. Enjoy the food cooked by her and learn life’s Philosophy endlessly. My decision to move out of my native place found a worth.

Hope this paragon of serenity increase in number, at every nook and corner of the world!!

Paragon

Punctured Wounds!

On June 14, 2017June 14, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, LifeLeave a comment

Hearing about a Punctured bike tyre or bicycle tyre is an everyday affair in a country like ours. Ask a youngster why he/she is late and the answer is definitely about a punctured tyre. My young age too has seen many punctures. I learnt bicycling at the age of seven. Fall from the cycle due to a punctured tyre was a monthly affair. When I grew up and started going to college with a bike. So many days it happened that, I was feeling terribly hungry and wanted to come back home after classes and phew! the bike has punctured. Cried with agony, pushed the bike to a nearby shop, waited for repair work done and came back. Thankfully, every time friends helped me with chocolates and biscuits, giving company in the repair shop.

And who has not suffered a punctured wound at least once in a lifetime?

Most of the time the culprits are a nail, a pin or a glass piece which causes puncture of the tyres.

A thorn in a rose, in pineapple leaves, on eggplants, on cactus – hurt by them?

Fond of sewing? Then you must have a puncture on the fingers by needles.

Ever stepped on a nail or a broken glass piece while playing? Oh! Yeah!

And have you ever played games with your enemy by puncturing his car tyres because of his any action you didn’t like?

I have many stories to tell. Experienced each one I told you.

You can count your punctured wounds.

Bye!

Puncture

“Taper” is the way of life!

On June 13, 2017June 13, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, Life5 Comments

The word “Taper” made me think about life’s essentials which have tapered ends and how these things would be sans a tapered end? Funny. I want all of you to think like me!

Here I go with my list……..

A man wearing a tie and if the tie has no taper ends?

Flame of a candle, sans its tapered end, does it look that amazing?

Mountain tops or tree tops, imagine they are flat at the top!

Imagine leaves of trees. How beautiful they are with tapering ends?

Should I share with you that I was drawing beautiful leaves in my science project books?

I enjoyed drawing the tapering ends the most!

Tails of fishes, sharks, whales, lizards or snakes…..flat ends. Do you like?

How birds and aeroplanes could fly high without tapered wings and tails?

How life or Physics would be without convergent rays?

How would we deal if there was no centripetal force?

Would geometry be little easier without cones or angles? Life without ice cream?!!

How we would be writing if pencils and pens were without a tapering end?

To end with a romantic note:

Kate Winslet and Leonardo at the tapered end of the giant Titanic singing

We’ll stay, forever this way.
You are safe in my heart and
My heart will go on and on…

The wish of a lifetime, isn’t it?

Love.

Taper

Louder please.. Ma’am!!

On June 12, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts, education1 Comment

All most all of my career life as a teacher saw me struggling with the volume of my voice while teaching. As I saw today’s prompt I smiled, smiled with my cheeks turning red! I thought, for me, the volume is the biggest issue and how they know about it!!

Always liked to teach. Started teaching while I was very young and pursuing my graduation. Fortunately, I was good in studies, all my juniors from my neighbourhood used to come to me to learn Mathematics. Some used to come to discuss Science topics too. In this way, when I fell in love with teaching, I never knew. But that was mainly tutorials with very few students around. When I finished my long study period and thought to join a job, obvious choice was teaching. I never realised teaching needs a good larynx too.

First few classes went with some kind of nervousness. All most hundred students seeking a professional degree used to sit in front of me to learn. Yeah, that’s the normal size of a class of a developing nation. I had to take care of a crowd sized classroom. And, slowly, I realized students are struggling to listen to me. But they were not complaining as I was new and perhaps they were pleased with me. I started observing that whenever I entered the class room, some boys used to move from last benches to first rows. I noticed for few days and kept on wondering about it. When I settled down and got the responsibility of conducting laboratory classes too, I came into contact with students closely. Usually size of a laboratory class is very small as it is batch wise. I could explain them well and students also overcame the fears and hesitations. After few days, I asked few of my favourite students, the reasons for the change of sitting arrangements in my class, they smiled. Said, “Mam, if you don’t mind, can you please be little louder? We have no problems with the way you teach, rather we love to hear your lectures, but as your voice is low we can’t hear you.” Then they said me many more things so that I don’t get hurt. I came home, thinking all the way about raising the volume of my voice.

My professor husband came in to raise my mood. He guided me how to reach to every students, how to handle a class when there are hundred students, how to do voice modulation so that students remain attracted towards the lecture. Then my practice started to raise my volume and volume modulation. Now I am comfortable, and my students too. And I never suffered from laryngeal oedema or laryngeal dysfunction!!

Volume

Try N Triumph

On June 11, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily PromptsLeave a comment

I like to share my life’s experience through my blog posts. My experiences as a teacher have been wonderful. Nothing teaches you more when you are into teaching and come across many souls every day.

As a teacher, I use to talk about “triumph” to my students. Work hard, be sincere, be disciplined, so that you can come up with good marks in the examination and may you win a medal. Real nerds focus hard on listening to my words but what the not so nerds do? They ask “why’? Why is it so much important to be triumphant? I smile and try to explain my perception of being triumphant in Exams.

It is important to take part in the struggle of getting successful in exams. Learn to fight. Learn how to survive in a competitive world. Learn how to be alive in a world where everything is getting scarce. Fight for what lifestyle you want, get it, otherwise get disappointed or even die. Survival is a triumph when you woke up in the morning having foods, clothes and a roof over your head you must feel triumphant. Hence try to come out victorious in life’s all struggles. Lessons of life start at a really young age.

Learning the art of struggle makes one courageous. One can take up any challenge without fear.

How can I explain and motivate students to become victorious if I, myself is not motivated enough?

I don’t want to say that one must be at the top but must try to be at the top. Like I read somewhere-“if you want the moon you may fall into the stars”. Just to improve the condition of humankind, we must teach this importance of triumph. We must remember “At the end, good tastes the triumph, not the bad”.

Here I share some quotes which inspire me, may inspire others to know the importance of ‘Triumph’.

As Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of International Olympic Committee and Father of modern Olympics said “The Important thing in life is not Triumph but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but o have fought well. To spread these principles is to build up a strong and more valiant and above all, more scrupulous and more generous humanity.”

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.

~Nelson Mandela

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

~Edmund Burke

For me, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man, or for flowers or beast or bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly and perfectly alive

~Al Purdy

Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.

~Mao Zedong

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.

~Margaret Thatcher

When we create hope and opportunity in the lives of others, we allow love, decency and promise to triumph over cowardice and hate.

~Kirsten Gillibrand

Triumph

20 easy ways to practice sustainable living.

On June 10, 2017 By Swastika DasIn education, Environmental Protection, Life, Uncategorized2 Comments

The World Environment Day has just passed a few days back. We celebrated it in the best possible ways. Now, we are back to our routine work of destroying this planet. Why don’t we think every day about sustainable living? Why don’t we adopt a lifestyle which gives the scope of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’? We must practice it throughout the year and speak about our good work on the Environmental day. Let more of us get inspired to practice sustainable living.

What is sustainable living?

It is the reduction of using natural sources, less demand and less supply pattern. If we reduce our demand for things which uses and thereby depletes natural resources, then we are into the practice of sustainable living. How can we do that? Many of points I am discussing here are known to us but then a reminder on saving the Earth is necessary. Don’t all of you agree with me? Here I go with my suggestions:

Reduce energy consumption. It’s a routine talk about saving electricity and fossil fuels. What is new? Can we read more books and play outdoor and indoor games to avoid watching TV and avoid mobile phones, thereby reducing consumption of energy? Go back to the earlier days when children knew how to climb a tree or swim in rivers and ponds. What we did when we were technologically behind?
Use green energy as much as possible. Use of solar, wind and hydro energy should be encouraged.
Walk, bicycle, use car pools and public transportation. This will not only reduce the fossil fuels consumption but will promote reducing the junks of old car materials. Imagine the number of old cars and their parts after the maximum use are converted into the trash, the burden on the planet.
How many mobile phones, laptops, iPads, iPhones, computers, Television sets you require? Can you minimise the numbers? The unnecessary demand of electronic gadgets will promote manufacturing and the electronic waste will seek a landfill to get disposed. Still now, we don’t have proper recycling units of electronic gadgets. So think thrice before you buy any electronic gadget next time.
Nowadays, human habits are pampering luxury. You can find four cars displayed in front of a house but can’t find a tree grown up to add to the beautification of the house.
We have a habit of shopping unnecessarily. Sometimes shopping is done to lift up a depressed mood. But this is a wrong practice. Unnecessary things turn out to be junk materials and we remain clueless about disposing of the junks.
You can exchange clothes with your friends or your siblings to minimise the purchase of clothes. You can donate clothes of kids to orphanages or to the needy. Keep your old clothes and some new out of fashion clothes to distribute among natural disaster victims. More organisations are required to collect clothes and channelize the donation to the poor.
You can use your not so used clothes to prepare cloth bags, pillow and cushion covers or doormats. Can use old towels converted into kitchen napkins. Replace tissue papers with cloth napkins. Put your thoughts to innovate ideas for reusing clothes.This way we can minimise our demand of cloth materials and save the raw resource for future generation.
“Stop using plastics” is almost slogan now. Use glass, ceramics, paper or aluminium containers and packaging, to save the planet and its wildlife. Many marine animals are killed consuming plastics.
Stop drinking plastic bottled water. Use your home RO plants or filter water for drinking purpose. Carry that water in bottles wherever you go. Reuse the plastic water bottles as many times as possible. Plastic bottles are adding to the severe environmental hazards created by civilised society.
Adopt a lifestyle which demands minimum. Use small rooms, small buildings, small apartments. Avoid constructing a palatial house where only three or four people live.
Instead, construct a small house with lots of greenery around. Plant trees which bear fruits so that birds can live in your surroundings. Keep a bowl of water and seeds on which birds can live. Have lots of flowers in your garden to wake up to a beautiful morning every day. Stay close to nature and inhale fresh air every moment.
Segregate dry and wet wastes. Use your kitchen wastes to prepare compost and use it in gardening.
Work for the preservation of animals and plants. Teach your children about the importance of having a beautiful surrounding.
Take care of population growth. More population leads to more demand, more manufacturing and ultimately more trash burdens on the planet Earth.
Reduce your laundry work. Avoid use of plenty of soaps and detergents. Reduction of washings and use of soaps will reduce water pollution.
Similarly, if we reduce our consumption in every area, then definitely we will reduce the use of packaging and use of plastics. Remember every item you buy needs a packaging.
If you grow vegetables in your garden, then you can avoid buying grated vegetables from supermarkets. This will reduce packaging and trash burdens.
Unplug everything when not in use, save electricity. Use LED lamps.
Use natural cleansers like a mixture of vinegar, baking soda and water instead of soaps/detergents to clean kitchen and bathroom tiles.

There are many more methods which we can practice. If we start practising reduce, reuse and recycle, we need to have more recycling units. Creating awareness about a sustainable living will encourage many to set up recycle and reuse units.

My purpose of writing this long post is to create awareness and also to remind already aware people. Environment protection is not one day or one week practice. It should be in our mind always. Let us born with nature, live with nature and rest in peace with nature.

Hope to return to you with another blog written on my way of sustainable living in the next World Environment Day.

Happy Living !!

Revealing Truths: Know How.

On June 10, 2017June 10, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

Revealing Secrets in the right moment and at the right place is an art. Life has many secrets. How one looks or behaves may not always reflect the truth. The secrets, sometimes are so important that they cannot be revealed. It ends up buried and goes in the coffin. But there are secrets which must be revealed to save a relation, for the betterment of a human being or uplifting a distressed situation.

If a child has a bad habit and the parents do not know it. The habit is destructive to the child, and no one dares to reveal it to parents as it would harm their feelings.

If a child is adopted and the parents decide to keep it a secret to the child for not hurting his beliefs.

If a child has problematic sexual orientation, parents do not know it. Sudden revelation may be shocking for the parents.

If one does not want to reveal the diseases he is suffering from to his partner before marriage. It may bring havoc to the relationship later.

If the real financial status is kept secret and it is revealed after the person becomes bankrupt!!

If one is practising law or medicine with a forged degree. It can be socially harmful.

If a person is corrupt and his family doesn’t know about it, the family’s reputation may be hit after the law takes action.

If the false allegations against a person are not revealed at the right time, his or her reputation, social status will be at stake and it may cause severe psychological distress.

So, the secrets may be many. Especially the ‘online’ age may see or experience many more secrets.

How will be the scenario if the truth is revealed in every case I mentioned above? Only one has to know how, when and where to reveal the truth. Procrastination of revelation can cause a huge problem for the person who listens to the truth. Try to be less destructive while you make revelations. Hence reveal as soon as possible to save relation.

The rule of revelation is

One must be very cautious. Know how to speak the truth.
Should not let your tongue loose. “Loose lips, sink ships”.
If you are not able to reveal the truth, have your friends or anyone to support you.
Revealing in public or in private: Understand what is better

Decide first whether the secret should remain secret forever or be revealed.

Stay happy. Keep others happy!

Revelation

Crazy for Crispy

On June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

Life is full of challenges, goes up and down. Since the time we are born we have to follow a routine. A child, a teenager or an adult, everyone is busy to follow a routine. Take up a new challenge and fight to finish it. Never ending workout to be on the straight path, achieving goals squeezes out energy and we sometimes feel losing the true essence of life.

We live only once. Living as human, it is precious. The world is so vast and there are ample things to know, to see, to taste. Do we care enough to live life to the fullest? Or instead, we get trapped in a daily routine of eating, working and sleeping? Why can’t we make our life’s routine flexible? Why can’t we live to know the bounteous world? Why make life so tough?

This thought of mine took me out of my sweet home when I was a teenager. I decided to leave my sweet home and stay in a hostel for my studies. I wanted to live independently, do all my work and studies independently. Little did I knew what actually hostel life was?

First thing we learnt in hostel was about seniors. Obey all your seniors, they can’t be wrong. Do all your work alone and it was tough. Attend lectures regularly, follow a routine. First six months went on smoothly as we juniors were all trying to understand what the ‘hostel life” was all about. Slowly we realised we were eating bland food for a long time. That was not the food we were used to having in our home! The food was very traditional and without varieties. Since we were living in a remote area there were no eating outlets to taste varieties of delicious food. We started requesting the managers for good quality food but he didn’t pay a heed to our request. Now, we became desperate to have something crunchy, crispy on our platter. Huge syllabus, regular classes, acquiring knowledge, remembering and preparing for tests, without proper food, was making us tired of hostel life. Hence we decided to cook. A group of friends of mine sat together and discussed how to find a way out. We wanted to taste Crispy Chickens, French fries, Egg rolls immediately. The hunger was burning inside. Moreover, why to lead a tough life which follows a strict routine. Young minds thought so much and became revolutionary. So we decided to have a feast in the nearby place which was full of big trees amidst the mountain. Our hostel was located in a really beautiful place as if it were sitting on the lap of small mountains surrounded by trees.

We went to our warden to seek his permission and tell him the agony and pain of not having good food for months. As he was a kind gentleman, he understood our plight and permitted us to have a picnic on a Sunday but in the Day time. We agreed. The excitement was so much that we were cursing the calendar system. Why not every day is a Sunday??

I still remember, the raw chickens marinated in all spices and curd. The preparation for making a stove out of available stones, collecting woods for fire and then bringing barbeque sticks from a nearby market. Then roasting the chickens. We were so hungry and so excited that we could not wait for the chicken to roast fully. So the first round went half crispy and when the mind and stomach felt little peaceful, we had the complete crispy ones. The surrounding got filled with the sounds of crackles of crunchy crispy food. Heartfelt relaxed, mind felt sleepy. Life’s experiences are so many. It was one of them!!

Crisp

How I say how I knew “polish” !!!

On June 7, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

How did I know polish? It was a word used in my daily life. School going can’t be without polished shoes. Everyday morning, check for the cherry blossom and apply it with a brush. Make shoes shining and leave home. Polish has got this much of importance then. Time flew and it was time to settle down in life. Parents started to see for a suitable groom for me. I could not manage to fall in love with any boy and they had to take this trouble. An arranged marriage is always tough for a girl. You never know who is he but you have to sit and talk with him. Only a few minutes and you have to decide whether he is suitable for you or not. Yeah! Real tough job. Even if all family members are in the surrounding but it’s only you who will suffer if anything goes wrong. Naturally, I was nervous. “Never interacted with a boy kind of girl” is ready to see a boy first time in her life. All elders advised me how to handle the situation but one important advice came from elder sis who was staying abroad. Check out the boy’s shoes properly. If its cherry blossomed, nice looking expensive shoes then only marry him. It seemed that, the boy’s any other qualification as the groom was secondary. I was ready with all pieces of advice. I was obedient too. Met with the prince charming, spoke about studies, careers, future plans and I was satisfied. Neither asked him his financial status nor watched his shoes. Just forgot as I was satisfied with all his academic excellences. Forgot all pieces of advice and said yes. My sis, when came to know that I forgot to watch his polished shoes, said, “you are gambling”. That is, not checking properly about the boy, especially his cherry blossomed polished shoes and saying yes for the marriage is no less than gambling. If marriage works then fine, otherwise there is a chance it may not work.

Thus I knew what “polish” is in the true sense. But then, did I care?

I only cared for polished behaviour. Not even for a polished hairstyle, skin or wardrobe. Polish has only one importance in human life. What reflects your personality is your polished behaviour. It keeps you connected to the society. Appreciation from others is key to success and it comes only when you are a polished human being.

Polish

Carry Yourself ‘Natty’ Way!

On June 6, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

Being natty is as important as oxygen, water, food and shelter. A human being of any kind, beautiful or not, needs to have a fashion sense. That doesn’t mean he or she must be looking attractive all the time. The general perception is, a girl must look beautiful and a boy must look smart. I differ with this outlook. Fashion, to me, is whether you represent yourself to the society in a dignified manner. Imagine all the professionals like Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, High school teachers, Actors, Nurses, Company Secretaries, Police Officers or Detectives. Everyone has their own dress codes. How they carry themselves is so important! Do you go to a Doctor who wears an untidy dress and looks unhygienic kind? Or, do you listen to a Lawyer without his black coat on? Every person should be natty, as it speaks volumes about him or her at the first sight. Your style, your being natty conveys a message about you. It’s a ‘Love at First sight’ kind of thing.

Now, how much natty we must be? As much required. Overdoing of anything irritates the eyes. Think about an actress with high makeup or a Professor only conscious about her dress! Not being natty or fashionable may imply that you are ‘out of the society’ creature. Or, you are not interested in life. My word of caution will be, let the children not get involved in fashion too much. The media glaze, movie actresses are influencing the styles of very young girls, which hampers their studies or the passion they are supposed to nurture. Too much natty at very young age does not allow the child to learn the life’s lessons. They start spending money unnecessarily on the stuff they are going to throw out as soon as that fashion is gone out of the market. Let them be tidy about their dresses but not overdoing of the things. Once children grow up, join a profession and start to earn money, let them, then understand the fashion world. Being fashionable will boost their confidence and they will succeed in their professional career.

Be natty and carry yourself in a dignified way, wherever you go, whatever you do.

Natty

Beautiful Life

On June 5, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

Uniform is beautiful, uniform is cliché-ridden. When there are opposite opinions there is always a clash between these two. In my life, I used to wear a uniform during my school days. but there were fun filled days without uniform in college. I enjoyed my schooldays as all of you might have. Getting up early, wear ironed uniform, tie up hair, pick up school bag, wear black shoes with white socks; ready for school! It was a daily routine. Come Saturday and there is an announcement for the winner who wears the neatest uniform throughout the week. This competition kept us alert about our uniforms as everybody wanted to be the winner. Come Tuesday, uniform changes to full white dress, time for yoga and meditation classes. Keeping a white dress all through the day, shining, was a real task. In this way, we somehow learnt the importance of wearing a neat dress and shoes, maintaining hygiene, how to iron the uniform and how to be disciplined about school routine. From childhood, the training we get helps us to mould our future. A habit grows and when you are in college you are disciplined enough to handle more responsibilities.

Graduated from school to taste the freedom of college life. No uniform!! Counted my coloured dresses. Planned which dress I wanted to wear in the previous night itself. No uniform taught me to feel more responsible. It whispered, ‘Be wise, Act wisely’. Coloured dresses and the wish of looking beautiful went hand in hand. Knew how I look beautiful! Life went on to shape me up what I am today. Enjoyed both statuses –with and without uniform—cliché ridden and beautiful.

What I want to say is both are important. Uniform is a word applied in every field—let it be, Mathematics, Science, shapes, or our nature. A crystal, a cube, a rectangle, a square gives you uniform pattern and shapes, they look beautiful. A uniform handwriting gives visual pleasure to the teacher, uniform grass lawn attracts you, a uniform pattern in a garden or uniform waves in the ocean. All are beautiful. We appreciate uniform building patterns on the road side, uniform civil code or uniform education policy and health policy. Think about uniformity, you smile!

That does not mean non-uniform patterns are not appreciable. Mountains, forests, clouds, weather throughout the world, sunlight, rain or many of the things in nature are non-uniform but those are the most beautiful. Can you think about uniform gender? NO. Non-uniformity of gender made the Earth the most beautiful place. Do you agree with me?

Enjoy uniformity amidst non-uniform nature. That’s LIFE.

Uniform

I Miss You Like Hell

On June 4, 2017June 4, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Daily Prompts

Distant are stars and the moon, distant are deserts and oceans, distant are arctic poles, and distant are forests and mountains. Do we regret being distant from nature’s all wonders? No.

But the ‘distant’ we worry about the most is relationships. Relation with near and dear relatives, brothers, sisters, friends, parents and your own loved one. How distance affects these relationships is a matter of concern for all.

Modern day lifestyle has seen parents detached from their children, children detached from all their relatives when they leave their native cities and move out for better career options.

The Younger generation is moving away from their loved ones, settling in a different country thousands of miles away. Are they really capable of shortening the distance lying between them and their loved ones? The answer, most of the cases, NO.

To keep distant relations alive one need to be communicative. Regular communication is the key to keep in touch with everyone who matters in your life. The hassles of a job, the regular chores to maintain a house and health, keeps everyone busy. One gets busy in developing new relations, new friends in a different city far off from hometown. Getting acquainted with the new place, its shopping areas, movie theatres, and hospitals take away lots of time. End of the day is marked with tiredness and little time for phone calls. Communicating through Facebook or WhatsApp also needs alert minds which sometimes the drained out body fails to give! In this way, gradually, one gets distant from his or her own people with whom he or she spent the entire childhood. Keeping the distant relation alive needs both side communication too. One who has moved away may be busy, but the people who are relatively less busy can call up or communicate through messages. If both sides fail to communicate, the relation dies a natural death. All relations move away except one that is parents. Mom and Dad cannot forget the child, so, somehow that evergreen bond of love exists, though like a thin thread. If this thin thread also tears off, the parents find themselves in an old age home. Bitter but true

The scariest thing about distance is you don’t know if they’ll miss you or forget about you.

-Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook.

My life has seen many ups and downs of relations. In a lifetime, one experiences many kinds of relations, some stays, some drift apart and some dies. Whatever is the relation, a distant relationship of love is the most talked about issue. Two distant people in love need to communicate almost always. Otherwise, suspicion grows, the fight starts over small issues, disharmony, jealousy, disrespect and the bond breaks down forever. My advice for loving couples will be ‘stay together, don’t listen to any theory on distant relationships, but be together always’.

“Distance does not break off the friendship absolutely, but only the activity of it.”

—–Aristotle.

Distant

EVERGREEN PROFESSION: TEACHING

On June 3, 2017June 3, 2017 By Swastika DasIn education, UncategorizedLeave a comment

“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, calibre, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher that will be the biggest honour for me.” – Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

This is the most important time of the year. All the results are declared, students are busy in choosing their career. In India, there is a general rush towards Medical/Engineering courses.

While the most brilliant students go for IITs or Medical courses in reputed colleges, other settle down with a seat in private Engineering colleges. Very few students opt for General Science, Commerce and Arts.

When most of the students want to join professional courses, very few want to become teachers. Better to say that teaching as a profession is considered last: more so by compulsion.

Isn’t it a sad state of affairs? India needs millions of teachers. According to the reports of UNESCO, India’s teacher crisis is little less than Nigeria’s. Every professional college needs teachers/professors. Every vocational college needs teachers and instructors. Every college, high school, primary school are in need of teachers. There are also reports that India doesn’t have enough number of good teachers and Professors at every level. Then why there is no rush to become a good teacher?

The reluctance probably lies in the social status of a teacher. A low paid salary and a disciplined life…no one want!! There is no distinction between paid time and unpaid time of work. A teacher works almost always, either physically or mentally. Hard work indeed but still less glamorous than an Engineer or a Doctor!!

Now, it’s time to call for creating an undercurrent among the mass to take up teaching as a profession. Good students should take up this social responsibility to educate our next generation. Again, If we go through the survey reports of UNESCO which says the abysmal condition of teaching and learning in most of the Government primary schools. A sixth-grade student cannot read a second-grade textbook! The level of understanding of Mathematics and Science is abnormally low. The capability of students to learn the language, frame a sentence is shamefully low.

The various lucrative career options could not drag good students towards teaching. As a result, the quality of teachers degraded over the years. The failure of subsequent Governments to think about the quality of primary and higher education, infrastructural facilities to schools and colleges lowered the dignity of the teaching profession. There must be a social drive to convey the positive sides of a teaching career.

A teacher is a social creature, connected to society, committed to social responsibilities. Noble profession, isn’t it?
A teacher is a surrogate parent for students. Teaching discipline, punctuality, inculcating moral values are part of the teaching job.
There is a lot of scope for freedom. Prepare your own models. Innovate methods to teach any topic, help students in completing projects etc. You are the boss of your classroom. Isn’t that fantastic?
Interacting with the young curious mind is fun itself. You, as a teacher, get a chance of shaping the future of the country. Educating fresh minds, showing them the right path, exploring their ideas in the best possible way will help the nation to progress.
While teaching others, you also develop good qualities. You learn to be disciplined, always seek for knowledge, develop leadership quality because sometimes your students depend on the decision you take.
You teach the future engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, accountants, poets and other teachers
You become a role model for several hundreds and thousands of future citizens of the country
A teacher meets thousands in a lifetime, parents list includes the richest to the most struggling. It’s a good opportunity to know people and the society. Realise the change the society is facing if yu are for a long time in teaching.
Not all get the opportunity to shape young minds. Teaching others, gives your heart and mind, a unique kind of pleasure and satisfaction
If you join teaching, gradually, with experience, you will find a purpose of your life. Life is all about purpose and passion. Teaching in this way the most fulfilling job.
The opportunity to mix with people of many types- culturally, religiously. You can have a closer look to life, you come to know about life, people and problems.
Moreover, you do not forget what you have learnt in your school and college days. Teaching needs a lot of reading. In this way, you can keep yourself upgraded about your subject.
Young students are always smart when it is about new gadgets, new style or anything that is new in the market. You have to know everything to tackle them. So you remain smart all through your life.
There are so many new methods to apply while teaching. Many innovations you can do with your teaching methodology. Teaching is so challenging that it keeps you busy with a new problem every day.
Nowadays, teaching is multifaceted. Teach, guide for projects, keep track of students, study their behaviour, counsel and then write a report on every student.
Identify weak learners and try to do your best teaching for them.
Hence, teaching has many benefits that you won’t get in other professions.
You will never scared of losing your job if you are a good teacher. There will be schools and colleges. Society will not ban education any day. So this is a job where you are super secure.

Be creative, transform lives, contribute in building a civilised society, spread knowledge, help poor, be a role model, inspire, ignite the hunger of acquiring knowledge.

BE THE CHANGE

BE A TEACHER

‘True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own’ – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer and Philosopher.

Cottage Cheese or Paneer: Nutritional facts.

On June 1, 2017June 1, 2017 By Swastika DasIn HealthLeave a comment

Cottage cheese is a wonder food. Storehouse of all nutrients our body needs. No fussy preparation makes it the most widely used food by vegetarians. Boil milk and add some lime juice or vinegar. The casein protein in the milk when reacts with the acid curdles up and your cottage cheese is ready. Strain it through a muslin cloth and press it. Now you can cook or can have it directly with a little sugar.

IMG_20170530_182950[1].png — Curdled Milk OR Paneer

One cup of cottage cheese provides you approximately 200 calories. It has protein, vitamin B12, Riboflavin (vitamin B2), calcium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium. One cup can provide you 28 grams of protein which is 47 percent of the recommended daily dose. Like other animal-based proteins, cottage cheese provides all the amino acids you need, making it a source of complete protein. Hence if you are vegetarian then you need not worry about protein intake with paneer on your platter. One cup of paneer gives you plenty of phosphorus and calcium. These two minerals are essential for bone growth and strength. Phosphorus also helps in biological metabolism to create energy and helps in make up the structure of DNA. Calcium also helps in muscle relaxation, prevent muscle cramps.

One cup of cottage cheese provides you vitamin B12. The only natural source of vitamin B 12 is animal protein. This vitamin helps to remove homocysteine, from the blood stream. Homocysteine is a natural byproduct of other processes in the body, but it should be removed as it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B 12 converts homocysteine into other helpful substances. Another vitamin is Riboflavin (B 2) found in cottage cheese which helps in enzymatic reactions to produce energy.

Zinc, which is one of the micronutrients required by the body is present in paneer. Zinc improves the immune system, digestion, diabetes control, improves ocular health, and prevents prostate disorder.

Selenium is another micronutrient which is available in paneer. It helps in protecting cell and DNA. Selenium is also helpful to prevent prostate and colon cancer.

Add Yoghurt to your daily diet

On May 29, 2017May 30, 2017 By Swastika DasIn Health, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Nowadays people prefer vegetarian diets for many reasons. Some are spiritually inclined, some are worried about the environment and animal rights while some want to lose weight. Reasons may be many, including personal choice. When the life is too busy, there is absolutely no time to think about food, forget about thinking about their nutritional values. Whether you are vegetarian or not, your diet must include an adequate amount of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates and fats along with micronutrients like calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, selenium etc. Foods which are rich in nutrients keep you on your toes.

But how many are aware of and care about nutritional food values and how the diet should be planned? Especially in a country like India where people are under tremendous pressure to make their both ends meet? When a vegetarian diet isn’t planned in a manner as it should be, then the trouble related to nutrition can start. It’s not only about vegetarians but also for people who suddenly stops eating meat and instead, decides to be a vegetarian.

If you are a vegetarian, how frequently you check with your protein intake? One very good source of protein for all you vegetarians is yoghurt/curd.

Let us first understand the difference between yoghurt and curd.

Indian curd is made by boiling and cooling the milk to lukewarm state and then adding a spoonful of curd. Curd has lactic acid bacteria or lactobacillus. This bacteria multiplies itself in the ambient temperature and in few hours ferments the milk to form the curd.
Yoghurt is prepared similarly but the fermentation of the milk is done by adding other specific strains of bacteria like Lactobacillus bulgaris, streptococcus thermophiles, Lactobacillus casei. Other strains of lactic acid bacteria may also be added. This ensures both quality and right quantity of bacteria in the yoghurt. Sometimes vitamin D is also added to yoghurt to enhance its nutritional value.

Hence, you can yoghurt of your choice from the market or you can have homemade curd. Nothing else is easier than preparing curd at home!

Yoghurt/Curd is a good source of protein, vitaminB6 and B12, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and other minerals. It’s a source of fat too but you have a choice of low-fat or fat-free yoghurt if you are hypertensive and diabetic. Due to the presence of protein and calcium, yoghurt helps in building bones, prevents osteoporosis, and keeps your muscles relaxed after a workout (or prevents post work out muscle trauma).

The presence of bacteria or more precisely, the probiotic bacteria keeps your gut healthy. Our digestive tract needs these bacteria which help in digestion and keeps away other gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhoea, colon cancer, and more importantly H.pyroli (a bacteria) infection. Chronic H. pylori infection causes ulcer and stomach cancer.

Yoghurt helps to reduce lactose intolerance. Scientists believe that probiotics in yoghurt boost the release of beta-galactosidase, an enzyme that enhances lactose digestion.

Scientific evidence reveals that addition of yoghurt to your diet can protect you from the development of several types of cancer like colon, bladder, and breast.

Yoghurt helps in reducing obesity. The main component of yoghurt, calcium is responsible for its anti-obesity benefits. Calcium can suppress the release of the hormone calcitriol, thereby halting fat storage and promotes fat breakdown. The anti-obesity activity thereby reduces the risk of Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It also enhances the immune system of the body.

Yoghurt also helps in reducing hypertension and increases HDL. It can prevent gum disease too.

Enough of good side effects of yoghurt. Excess intake may cause prostate cancer and kidney stone due to high intake of calcium. And many people can’t tolerate milk sugar (lactose). So they may avoid having yoghurt in case yoghurt can’t improve their lactose intolerance condition.

I wanted you to know the health benefits of yoghurt or curd. A food which can be prepared easily is so beneficial. So, why wait? Let me give you some idea to have yoghurt in your diet in the easiest way.

Always have fresh yoghurt/ curd. Have it during breakfast with fruits or alone.
You can have yoghurt, cereals and banana mixed together. It makes a nutritious food.
Prepare a smoothie of hung curd and mango. Take equal quantity of mango pulp and hung curd. Add sugar (optional). Blend it, relish it instead of an ice cream. Have a better food than ice cream.
Hung Curd and Alphonso Mango Smoothie
Prepare a thinner blend of yoghurt/curd (Indian lassi) with any fruit crush like blueberry, strawberry or black currant. Add a pinch of salt. Add few ice cubes (optional). Have it after lunch or in hot summer, anytime.
Black Currant Crush and Curd blend.
There is a famous preparation of ‘sweet curd’ in India. It can replace ice cream.
Add curd in different recipes of paneer or vegetables.
Prepare delicious Curd Rice.

Eat healthily. Daily intake of curd will help you to live longer.

Zika Virus: What you Should Know?

On May 28, 2017 By sayandeepIn Health, UncategorizedLeave a comment

What is a Zika Virus?

Zika Virus is a disease caused by a virus transmitted by daytime Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopticus mosquito and which also transmits Chikungunya, Dengue and Yellow Fever. Sexual Transmission of the disease is also possible.

What are the Symptoms of Zika Virus Disease?

Mild Fever or rash can appear after few days of being bitten by an infected mosquito. Muscle and Joint Pain, Tiredness, Conjunctivitis. Symptoms usually last from 2 to 7 Days.

infographic-showing-symptoms-of-zika-virus — Image Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

How is it detected?

Zika Virus can be detected in blood and urine sample of suspected cases using RT-PCR. Results are typically available after 3 Weeks.

What are the Complications of Zika Virus Disease?

Zika virus is known to trigger Guillain Barrè Syndrome in adults. It also causes severe neurological deficits and Microcephaly in foetus of a pregnant woman.

What is Guillain Barrè Syndrome?

Guillain Barrè Syndrome is a condition in which the person’s own immune system attacks his or her nerves. In 20 to 30% of the cases, the chest muscles are severely affected making it hard for the person to breathe which results in near total paralysis or death.

What is Microcephaly?

Microcephaly is a condition in which the baby’s head is smaller than those of other babies of the same age. Zika Virus infection in a pregnant woman is known to trigger Microcephaly. Children born with Microcephaly may have developmental challenges as they grow older.

zika-virus-and-pregnancy — Image Source: http://www.consumerhealthdigest.com

What is Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome?

A range of manifestations have been reported in babies’ upto 4 weeks old upon exposure to Zika Virus in utero. These includes malformation of head, involuntary movements, seizures, brainstem dysfunctions, difficulty in swallowing, limb contractures, contractures, hear and sight anomalies. Other outcomes may include miscarriage or stillbirths. These group of manifestations are known as Zika Virus Syndrome.

Is India at Risk?

The medical journal Lancet has said 2.6 billion people living in parts of Asia and Africa could be at risk of Zika infection, based on analysis of travel, climate and mosquito patterns in those regions.Although Zika was first identified in 1947, the virus wasn’t considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil in 2015 revealed that it can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected. WHO Declared Zika Virus as global public health emergency last year.

On 15^th of May 2017, WHO said that India has reported three confirmed cases of Zika Virus infection in the western state of Gujarat. According to the WHO, more cases of Zika virus may occur in the future as it is known to be circulating in South East Asia region.

How is it treated?

There is no specific medicine or vaccine available for Zika Virus Infection. Treatment aims at relieving the symptoms with rest, plenty of fluids, medications for joint pain and fever. Aspirin and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) should be avoided until Dengue is ruled out.

How to stay protected?

Your best protection is to prevent mosquito breeding and protect yourself from a mosquito bite.

How to prevent breeding of Mosquito?

At least weekly empty or get rid of cans, buckets, old tires, pots, plant saucers and other containers that hold water.
Keep gutters clear of debris and standing water.
Remove standing water around structures and from roof
Rinse and scrub vases and other indoor water containers weekly.
Maintain backyard pools or hot tubs.
Cover trash containers.
Water lawns and gardens carefully so water does not stand for several days.
Treat front and back door areas of homes with residual insecticides if mosquitoes are abundant nearby.

How to protect yourself from Mosquito Bites?

Wear Insect Repellents
Cover up with long sleeve shirts and long pants
Keep mosquitoes out with air conditioning the room or by keeping the windows and doors closed.
Limit outdoor activities during the peak mosquito times.

How to Protect yourself if you are providing care to a person infected with Zika?

Do not touch blood or body fluids or surfaces with these fluids on them with exposed skin.
Wash hands with soap and water immediately after providing care.
Immediately remove and wash clothes if they get blood or body fluids on them. Use laundry detergent and water temperature specified on the garment label. Using bleach is not necessary.
Clean the sick person’s environment daily using household cleaners according to label instructions.
Immediately clean surfaces that have blood or other body fluids on them using household cleaners and disinfectants according to label instructions.

If you visit a family member or friend with Zika in a hospital, you should avoid contact with the person’s blood and body fluids and surfaces with these fluids on them. Helping the person sit up or walk should not expose you. Make sure to wash your hands before and after touching the person