Hope is so Stubborn

Photo by Zwaddi, Unsplash

सुबह आती है और साथ लाती है एक मुट्ठी उम्मीद। हर रोज़। दिन चढ़ता है, और मुट्ठी ढीली होने लगती है, मानो थक गयी हो। और फिर उम्मीद उन पोरों से फिसलने लगती है, हौले-हौले, और काफ़ुर हो जाती है जैसे उसे कोई फ़िक्र ही नहीं। खैर अब ऐसा भी नहीं है ―वो थम जाती है, उन्हीं दरारों में कहीं, जैसे अपने आप को तैयार कर रही हो, अगले दिन के लिए।

उम्मीद धुंधला जाती है, बेशक, पर ख़त्म नहीं होती, ये बहुत ज़िद्दी होती है।

The morning arrives with a fist full of hope. Every single day. As the new day stretches on, the fist loosens, like it's tired, and hope slips, slowly, through the crevices of the fingers. Evaporates, mercilessly, but not entirely. It lingers, preparing for the next day.

Hope dwindles but refuses to go. It's so stubborn!

Art Therapy

Written for Blogchatter's Cause a Chatter initiative.

Mental/emotional stress is more exhausting than physical tiredness.

Thankfully, there are certain things that help you relieve your mental stress. Everyone has a different way to deal with it (if you think nothing relieves your stress, you seriously need to rethink). 

In my previous Cause a Chatter post, I had talked about solitude. It works wonders for me. Another thing that distracts my mind is art. I am a self taught artist and I have started conducting painting workshops. For me, art has become like reading an engrossing book. When I'm reading an engrossing book, nothing distracts me. Similarly, when I am painting, I don't think about anything. Not even social media. Even when I am conducting my painting workshop, I'm so engrossed that I don't think about anything except the process and if the students are following the steps. The workshop continues for more than two hours (where I paint live, step-by-step), and even though I am not very talkative, I enjoy instructing the steps and answering questions.

Because Art is therapeutic. It teaches you to be calm and patient. Even therapists use this medium to interact with people who face anxiety and some mental/behavioural  disorders.

Art Therapy:  I came across this term a few days ago and found it intriguing. 

According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy is a kind of therapy that integrates mental health and human services by using “active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience.”

It's very important to understand that only Licensed professionals who are trained in both therapy can conduct these sessions.

According to Wikipedia, Art therapy can be used to help people improve cognitive and sensory motor function, self-esteem, self awareness, emotional resilience. It may also aid in resolving conflicts and reduce distress.

No wonder it works. Studies show that during the lockdown period, many people picked their paint brushes to deal with their anxiety and found solace in art. It's the best way to engage kids as well. Drawing or painting can calm the kids and make them sit still. Don't you think so?

Last week, I conducted an online painting workshop, the theme was waterfall. It's so satisfying to see them paint so beautifully. Sharing some lovely shots from my workshop. 

Rajashree

Saheli

Samarpita

Meetu

Shayonee (it's her first acrylic painting)

Also, it's fun to experiment with colour mixing. Shared two ways to mix teal colour in this video. You can watch when you have time.

Acrylic Colours: Two Ways to Mix Teal

https://youtu.be/aziT99yn35s

Sharing with Paint Party Friday

Stay well, stay calm.

Seize The Day!

The shadow of past

Overpowering future

Still and stiff present

New day arrives with

Renewed hopes and promises

Learn to seize the day!

When you try to make your day better, it means that you have moved on and learnt from your past (That's really important), and you are focusing on a better future as your tomorrow, to some extent, depends on today's efforts. So, yes. Seize the day!


Sharing with Poets United (Theme --- Carpe Diem)
                      Haiku My Heart 

For a clutter-free mind

 

Do you want anything middling in your life? NO will be your answer, I know. Everyone desires good or rather best. We can’t gainsay the fact that sometimes we do not have control on our lives and life becomes mishmash. But, is it wise to eternize that mishmash? There are certain aspects we can work on to make life easier with a clutter-free mind.

Declutter your home: Most of the times we tend to keep useless things. ‘It may turn useful someday’ is the general thought. Let your home breathe. Toss out those tatterdemalion things.

Learn to manage time: It is not that easy but it is not that difficult either. The best way to make your day productive and extract some quality time for you is ‘Getting up early’ (And minimum TV). Even though I am not a morning person but I strongly believe that getting up early saves a lot of time making your days productive thus making your home and mind clutter-free.

Learn to say a ‘firm’ NO: No, you don’t have to be rude. It happens that your heart screams a big NO but you find yourself saying a meek YES with a wan smile. Dare to say a NO. Just a firm NO can solve many of your problems.

Recently, I found this quotation here and my heart said ‘How True!’ 

Stop being a people pleaser: You think too much about what others will think (While they may not be thinking that much). Remember, you can’t make everyone happy. And, keeping others happy is not your job. Think about your own happiness and stop pleasing others unnecessarily.

Speak for yourself: It is good that you care for your relationship and you should. But, don’t let others cross the boundary. Sometimes, some people, when they speak inappropriately, deserve an appropriate answer. Make them understand that you are not going to buy all of their unfair blabbers. Don’t feel bad if you dare to speak for yourself (When people say something wrong to you). It is good for the peace of your mind and health of your relationship with that person.

Stay away from negative people: There are some people who deserve to be ignored. Such as quidnunc, discouraging, mean people.

Be flexible: Yes, especially when it comes to your close relationship. Being hidebound can give you sleepless nights and unnecessary pain. 

Be healthy: And, put your ultimate effort to stay fit and healthy. A clean and happy mind resides in a healthy body. Life and mind become super-cluttered when you or people around you fall sick. Take care of yourself. Only then you’d be able to take care of your dear ones.

 

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Written for this very interesting challenge on Write Tribe. It's about playing with new words. Please tell me if I have used any word inappropriately. 

The Stairs of Success

Picture Prompt @ Picture it & Write

Climbing the stairs of success

As you rise

You may meet the clouds of criticism

 Ignore them, and go on

But, when the thunder of arrogance hits you

Lightning of egotism makes you beam

Stop for a while,

Be calm, and ponder

Remember, you are not the only one who is rising.

Sharing with: Write Tribe

                   The Mag

Celebrate the gift of life

Image prompt @ The Mag

Stop counting your worries for now

Think of your blessings

Celebrate the gift of life

Find some reasons to sing
Ignore your anger
Keep the arguments aside
Remember, you have a heart filled with love and care
Try to spread it wide

You have just one life

Feel grateful for a while

Give your tears some rest

There are many little reasons to smile!

      Sharing @ :  Poets United

Time to enjoy life!

Heavy drops of rain

Invigorated the zest
Time to enjoy life!

It's raining here and the refreshing aura prompted me to write this. Sometimes we feel trapped in troubles and eventually stress that we forget to enjoy life. We keep thinking about our problems and ignore little packets of happiness. 

 Life is uncertain and few things are beyond our control. Sometimes we just have to learn to accept life as it comes. At the same time, even after many disheartening situations, we must learn to keep our hope and courage alive. There's always a way. We just have to find it.

Fight the hurdles (Yes you can!)! Try your best to do what you actually want to do. Learn new things! Add colours to your life. Find the little reasons to smile (You'll get many) and enjoy life!


Sharing with Haiku Heights
                    Write Tribe

Carnival of delight

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Oh! I so want to erase

Those dark memories

Make my days smile with

Less worries

Ah! Those carnival of delight

Everywhere I see

Why can't those lovely moments

Fill my life with glee

I wish to have a little piece of sky

Suffused with the colours of rainbow

Golden sunshine, enlivening rain

Mellow breeze, all in a row!

Shared @ Poets United

The joy of motherhood!

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Recently, Angelina Jolie underwent breast surgery called double mastectomy, in which surgeons remove the tissues of breast and insert fillers to keep the elasticity, to protect herself from breast cancer.

Angelina Jolie's mother had breast cancer and she died of ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie carries the BRCA1 gene that puts her at high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. She says, she doesn't want her children to live without their mother like she did. It’s the modern healthcare techniques that helped her to retain the joy of motherhood without any anxiety.

Becoming a mother is a very common phenomenon of the world. But ask those women who are deprived of this pleasure! Or those who struggle to attain this most prized designation. Recently, I met two new moms. I was surprised to see them, pleasantly though. Sarita was about fifty and Kalawati, fifty plus!

In 19 years of married life, Sarita tried hard to conceive but couldn't taste the sweetness of motherhood. Kalawati’s story is more tragic. She was a proud mother of two children but she never imagined in her wildest dream that her fate could be so cruel. She lost both her children.

In both cases yearning for a child is quite obvious and justified. But modern medical era did not let them keep hankering.  Finally, both opted for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). Through this technique, both Sarita and Kalawati are proud mothers of a girl and a boy child respectively. 

Unfortunately, both gave birth to premature babies. I'm startled to see the number of cases of premature delivery these days. A decade before survival of premature babies was a threat and tough challenge (It’s still a challenge in small towns.) but now days medical science has reached a level where you will be pleased to see premature babies survive and thrive.  Mothers at high risk of premature delivery are administered a course of steroids to prevent any respiratory problems in babies as they have underdeveloped lungs at that stage.

It’s so charming and delightful to see your child grow up like normal baby. What if a woman gives birth to a child who is differently able? Physically and mentally retarded, to be precise. Shyamli is a mother of nine year old boy. But she did not have the pleasure to see her son grow up like a normal child. He suffers from cerebral palsy and is unable to do anything.

Shyamli was very apprehensive about having another child. She was scared actually. Finally, after consulting many doctors and to fulfill her emotional satisfaction, Shyamli conceived after nine years. She and her husband were worried about the health of this upcoming child. Then the doctor suggested trimester screening to identify/detect the risk of any disorder in the child at the early stage. Thankfully, everything was normal. After the delivery, doctors said that everything is fine with the baby. Now Shyamli and her husband are enjoying the normal activities of their three months old baby.  A sliver of anxiety still resides in their hearts but they are hoping for the best.

Joy of motherhood is precious and it adds bliss and serenity to life. In my opinion, modern medical techniques have helped many want-to-be mothers attain and retain this greatest joy of life!

My entry for How does modern healthcare touch lives? contest (By Indiblogger) in association with Apollo Hospitals.

Happiness is waiting ahead!

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Feeling happy is a mistake

Expressing it is a sin

Expectations evaporate ruthlessly

Wishes often go into the trash bin

I know it's my fault

Destiny is not to be blamed always

Everything will be fine someday

Embers of stubborn hope says

Series of troubles exhausts life
Getting harsh sunlight no shade
Wan smile pats and indicates
Happiness is waiting ahead!


Shared @ Poets United
                              One Single Impression

Stay united...

                                                                             Image Link

Stay united in

Adversity, keep stupid

Arguments aside

Sometimes, people tend to argue when in trouble. It's totally unwise. In adverse situation, we need to understand and support each other, to fight the hurdles together. Leave your own fights for some other time:)

For Haiku Heights

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Recurring Memories

Just can't forget those

Recurring, unfortunate memories,

They haunt me terribly!

I wish life had an undo button! If only we got a second chance to make things alright!

People say bygones are bygones. We can't change whatever has happened in our lives so, not looking back is a good option. But some memories/incidents whirl in our mind like an eddy in specific interval. How hard we try but we just can't forget it. Those scenes run like reel.

We sometimes feel really sorry for those incidents when due to our own ignorance, hesitation or inability of taking correct decision, something went wrong.

Oh! we feel, if only we'd thought or acted wisely...

But the fact is that we don't have the privilege to undo things.

We are bound to regret our mistakes, (to realize it...actually & to learn). We just have to cope, learn and move on. Well, learning is important because first time you do things incorrectly, it's mistake. But when you repeat it, it's mostly your choice. And we are not always lucky enough to get several chances!:)

Tsunami

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Just one look at you

 Tsunami of worries gets

Calm, life seems blissful

Shared @ Haiku Heights

Shadow

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They call it perfect

Companion, it leaves us

Alone in darkness



For: Haiku Heights
          Haiku My Heart

                                                                 My Facebook Page

No accusations: just you and your conscience

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Be the master of your thoughts

Don't let it spring up from some other mind

Take your own decisions, wisely

Don't let it be influenced by anything

Trust your own conscience

Realize your mistake

Don't get carried away

Don't accuse!

Accusing someone for some ill happenings in our life is the easiest thing we can do. It happened because of you! We say very easily. Sometimes, our decisions and thoughts are influenced by others. Our conscience gets overpowered. We fail to act straightforwardly.

Being nice is good. But being too (Unnecessarily) nice is sometimes stupid. Don't allow someone else to master your life? Because, at some point of time, it may arise the situation when we feel like accusing someone else for our own problems, sometimes without realizing the reality. People often accuse God for our misfortune. Sometimes they accuse their destiny. But when you analyse closely, sometimes, it's our own mistake or lack of knowledge which lead us to a difficult situation.

People accuse someone else for three main reasons:

First, when they are compelled by their nature. Some people have the tendency to blame others for every mishap.

Second, When they desperately want to defend themselves. Before anyone could blame them, accuse someone else!

And third, when they are trapped in the quagmire of troubles. They may not have the tendency of putting accusation on others but adverse situation snatch their conscience and they start to think that that particular situation is just because of any A B C D.

You can think prudently. You can take right and wise decisions. Don't let others rule your thoughts. And prevent yourself from firing the bullets of accusations on others. Believe me, it creates many complications in life, especially when you do it without realizing the reality. Moreover, it can play a pivotal role in embittering relationships.


Written for Theme Thursday (Accusations)
Shared @ Poets United

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You came into my life....

 

 

 

Life is not so cruel

My destiny is not so wrecked

Heart started to believe

Finally it gained some faith

 

You came into my life

With a beautiful bouquet of

Wonderful emotions

And exciting colours

 

Your divine smile is like

Golden sunshine of dawn

Your lovely visage

Evoked new dreams and hope

 

Your tender touch
Is so affectionate and soft
Your face is so innocent
That I couldn't take my eyes off

 

Beautiful desires have got wings

Bleakness started to fade

I wish... a garden of delights

And a blissful life ahead

 

Those lovely dreams and wish

May fill my life with blessings

No place for disappointments

Just bliss, smiles, melody and peace!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secrets...

It is said that:

Fear not for the past

Weep not for the future

You better live in the present

But

Secrets

Layered within the sheets of life

Some locked

Some stare mysteriously

Almost ready to leap out, anytime

To shock us or sometimes surprise us pleasantly

You never know

What life can present you with...

Fearing and weeping is totally worthless. True! But, I think we should remember our past to learn from our faults. We can extract wisdom from it so that they prevent us from repeating them. We become experienced. And wiser. We can walk in life with 'minimum' mistakes onward.

And no matter what, but we tend to plan our future. At some point of time we definitely need to do some planning. Actually, we do try to take wise decisions in present, being learnt from the past and to make our future better.

So, try to gain from the flaws of past as much as you can and be prepared for the shots of future.

For: Carry On Tuesday
        Theme Thursday


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Perseverance in extreme adversity

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We all want to walk on a correct path and lead a peaceful life. But some people fail to think rationally when life gives them a huge jerk.

A man's wife was suffering from Schizophrenia.  She could not do the household chores nor she could take care of her children. Due to her mental status, her house was a complete mess. The man was so frustrated with her behaviour of madness that he tried to kill his children and himself. He survived but lost both his children.

A woman was suffering from a perfect crime everyday and that perfect crime was her husband's domestic violence and adultery. Her husband threatened her to kill. He did not want to give any share of the business.  She cared for her children and did not want to lose her business that she worked hard to establish as her husband did not bother to take care of anything except different women. She chose to kill her husband to get rid of her problems.

There are countless such real life cases. Is destroying everything really the only way to gain peace? It is very important to find a way rationally when life becomes unfair.   It may be difficult to find sometimes but there must be some key to solve your problems. You can't just escape. Escaping is the easiest way and life is not so easy. It is completely understandable that those who go through difficult phase know better but  I often think is it really impossible to find a sensible way out of the troubles? We can at least try to shape our life a bit differently by putting some logical efforts in it.

Never lose your conscience: Conscience is something that people tend to lose when life pours innumerable troubles but keeping it intact is a difficult yet wise thing we can do in our lives. It can prevent us to go on a wrong path. It reminds us to do correct thing no matter how difficult the situations are.

Comparing yourself with others is silly: We all have our own lives. Different from each other. People tend to compare themselves with others without knowing fully that what they're going through. They tend to see the outer picture. Maybe others are having a fabulous time but you have got your own share, better than many other people. Try to enjoy that and try to be content with what you have.

Recognize and trust your capabilities: Many people keep tolerating troubles and injustice without fighting. They think they are not capable enough to do something substantial against the odds, accepting them as their fate. At least try. Guarantee of eradicating the pain is perhaps beyond reach but trying is absolutely within your reach. Remember, if you are capable enough to tolerate them you can fight as well.

Patience & Hope: These are the keys for success. Always hold the hands of patience and hope to follow the three previous points. They can make you waiting. Sometimes you may get irritated but they can do wonders too. They can keep you going, keeping you level-headed.

Script of Life...

I try to read the

Script of life, the gist hidden

Within the pages

I seek happiness

But get anguish quite often

Still, hope for a smile

I search for victory

Find disappointment teasing

Try my level best

I want some solace

Meet with irksome disturbance

Expect harmony

I wait for good luck

But find myself trapped in jinx

Dream to hug fortune

I hear lullaby

Oh, it's a scolding from life

Yearn for affection

There's a place, full of

Bliss, hope and peace, in my heart

Where I go always

And As,

I stay positive

I know, someday I'll get these

Life just can't refuse!

Shared @    Carry On Tuesday

             Haiku Heights

             Poetry Pantry

              Magpie Tales

                Haiku My Heart

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Few Things to Learn

This is my response to the creative prompt "Wish List Wednesday"provided by Preeti Shenoy. Her fourth book "The Secret Wish List" has been released and getting really nice reviews.

Today's prompt is: The one thing that I wish everyone should learn is...


Few things I wish everyone should learn:

To lend people in need or trouble a helping hand. A tender touch of assurance and a warm smile relent the anxiety and spread positive vibes. These days, social life is shrinking and people tend to stay oblivious to other's problem. But helping others always gives happiness.


To raise their voice against depravity, corruption and injustice. People tend to think "How does it matter to me?" It's unfortunate.  Most importantly, people must learn to speak, at least, for themselves, against any hideous behaviour towards them, so that no one can take undue advantage.


To fulfill their promises. When someone makes any promise, it naturally generates hope and sometimes in difficult situation relief & courage. It's depressing when hope shatters. So, don't make any promises when you're not sure about it. And if you do, try your level best to keep your words. Remember, a pair of hopeful eyes are looking at you with expectation.


To say a polite or sometimes a firm "NO"! It's really...really difficult but it helps you to stay away from many complexities. People must understand their priorities in life.