How it all began and when? When I think about it, the journey appears so magical, as if silk curtains rolling up and opening the window to the memory lane.
It is said that writing down your emotions is a strong tool to deal with them in a positive and constructive way. I used to scribble a few lines here and there when I felt like sharing my thoughts or emotions but would not find anyone around. While I used to read them after some time, I realised that if we read our thoughts or emotions, it gives us a newer perception about ourselves. This made me think further, what if we extend our thoughts about other people and let them understand how we perceive them? It struck me that we have been doing this since ages by reaching out to people in their good and bad times to express our emotions and let them express their own so that if it is joy it doubled and if it is sorrow it is halved. Today life is at the top gear and we have turned mechanical and miser in the gesture of expressing and extending our thoughts, our wishes towards our loved ones as well. The bond created by these exchanges of greetings is also becoming as short as HBD or RIP. We have become miserable in greeting or sympathising with people when it comes to words. It hit home and I decided let me break this chain and start reaching out to special people in my life, greeting them by expressing my genuine feelings for them.
That year I started writing personalised birthday messages to my dear ones, expressing my gratitude for their presence and contribution to my life, what they meant to me as a person, what place did they hold in my heart as a person. It helped me express and reach out my feelings to them. In my messages I tried to portray their special qualities they possessed and how they touched lives in their own way. They loved the messages and it made them happy. I then realised what I intended was bearing the fruits and it made our bond stronger. Life is too short to procrastinate and lose important moments of connecting with people and which can mean a lot to someone.
After reading my greetings my dear ones suggested that I should write blogs. It took me a long time to figure out how should I go about it but then I decided to give it a shot. I started Penning down real-life experiences I came across or someone shared with me, which at times came with a valuable lesson or made me laugh.
It was lockdown period then and everyone was on the brink of emotional outbreak due to full of fear, grief and uncertainty. I decided to give it a try and started writing blogs and sharing them. People started connecting with it and responding in a positive manner. I shared them with a few of my friends and family members and everyone appreciated them which gave me further encouragement.
One day my friend, Radhika, who is a co-author in our book ‘Afterall Y.O.L.O.’ suggested that these thoughts should be transformed and presented in the form of a book. Initially I took it lightly but she kept on nudging and encouraging me about it.
She kept on persuading me that good thoughts must reach out to the world. We had many more such discussions and then finally we decided to come up with this book in collaborative manner where the narratives are written by me are ornamented by a deep meaningful poetry written by her and the beautiful illustrations supporting them equally by one more friend. It is like a dream come true with the blessings of God and my family and friend family.