Category: Personal

Theme Reveal A2Z challenge with Blogchatter

The A2Z blogging challenge with Blogchatter is all about blogging on every single day through April except on Sundays. So essentially there’s an alphabet associated with every single day. A on the first day, B on the second and so on until it’s Z on the twenty-sixth day. When I took up this challenge, I had already been posting two to four blog posts every week. However it looked like a Herculean task to post every single day and that too on the basis an alphabet. I felt challenged and there’s no best way to overcome the fear than to face it. So, here I go with my theme reveal of my first ever A2Z challenge.

A dollop of Bengal.jpg
Theme reveal of A2Z Blogchatter Challenge – A DOLLOP OF BENGAL

 

 

Through a series of twenty-six posts, I am going to help the readers enjoy a journey down my state West Bengal through ‘A dollop of Bengal’. My blog belongs to a multi-niche category and through this theme, I intend to cover cities, places, food, restaurants, personalities, characters, festivals and a lot more that define this state. So that looks like a huge list right?

Wait, there’s a twist! Among the multiple options in various categories starting with any particular alphabet, I am going to choose and write only about the one that has a connection to my life. Stay tuned to know who makes it to the list and what is their significance in my journey.

I am waiting to make this my biggest project till date. Can’t wait for you to come sooner, April to get this started.

Fiction – Muse of the month February Shortlisted story on Women’s Web

Ever since I started blogging, I also started nurturing the desire to become a published author. As part of my pursuit of dreams, I have started writing Fiction. I had begun contributing articles to quite a few websites since December last year.  Women’s Web happens to a personal favourite for lending voice to hundreds of women across the country. Every month the site runs a contest called Muse of the Month(MOTM) wherein a prompt is given for the authors to write a short story within 2000 words and submit it within 12th of the month.

My maiden attempt at MOTM for the month of February titled “But The Truth Is That She Is In Charge Of Her Life”had been shortlisted among of thousands of entries. While it didn’t make it to the coveted top 5, the fact that it came close enough to get into this list is a big booster and encouragement for a new author like me. Sharing snippets from the story here –

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Wishes for a Happy and Colourful Holi

As a child, Holi was the festival that I would eagerly wait for every year. The colours had to be dissolved in water, the buckets filled with coloured water had to be taken outside and then began the crazy session of applying colour on each other using pichkari(spray or water gun). We had to be literally dragged back home somewhere in the late afternoon after countless requests fell flat on the deaf ears. By then we had so many layers of colours that our faces would have gone beyond recognition. The bigger challenge was for the parents to scrub those colours off the skin. Normally it took a couple of days or more to get back to our natural skin colour. But that enthusiasm filled childhood made us run out with abir/gulal(coloured powder) in the evening again. Yet we had been carefully taught not to apply colour on anyone who refused to be a part of the festival. The concept of consent had been cautiously inculcated within us.

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The Survivor (Nanotale)

My first attempt at a nanotale:

The Survivor

Feminist by the day today, abused by her husband night after night,
But she wasn’t ready to succumb her fate to such plight.
People saw her grit to save victims, no one saw the scars running buried within,
To the world she was a messiah, no one knew the story of her fight for surviving.
Truth be told, there never existed a mirror in her house,
Lest she accidentally comes face to face with that turbulence hidden in her mind.

With love to my forever perfect Valentine

Dear T,

We are already into February – the month of love. Do you remember the first February that we spent together after years of not being in touch with each other . The year was 2010 – you loathed traveling then. Yet you took a flight from Kolkata to Bangalore and then a bus to Mysore for a non-stop journey of ten hours only because you wanted to surprise me. You ended up proposing me for marriage as well. More than the beautiful orchids, chocolates and books that you got me as gifts, I remember you drinking cups of coffee just to give me company during those five hours that we spent talking to each other. I was a caffeine junkie while you were coffee intolerant. Yet you didn’t let your discomfort take precedence over my happiness.

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Toddler moments of joy – Saraswati Puja and Hathe Khori

Jaya Jaya Devi

Chara Chara Share

Kucho Jugo Shobhito

Mukta Hare

Beena Ranjito

Pustaka Haste

Bhagawati Bharati

Devi Namastute

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Father passing on his knowledge of the significance of Saraswati Puja to his son

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My first attempt at Vlog via #MoreToMe campaign of Momspresso

Last few days, a new campaign has created a lot of buzz in social media. It is an initiative from India’s top parenting community Momspresso called #MoreToMe. It talks about the need for highlighting various other aspects of a woman other motherhood also. I wrote my two bit on this thought a couple of days back. You can read it here.

https://soniasmusings.com/2018/01/20/banking-to-blogging-my-journey-of-reclaiming-my-identity-via-moretome/

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Banking to Blogging – my journey of reclaiming my identity via #MoreToMe

The world knows me as a mum and how much I love it! But I also want you to know there’s #MoreToMe. Here’s my #MoreToMe facet, that reflects my passion and gives me so much fulfillment. Last few days this is what has been one of the most trending topics on Facebook. An initiative by Momspresso, this is a way of letting women rediscover their individuality. So here goes my story of #MoreToMe.

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Before it became together, forever! 

The first time that I met T, I was coming out of my chemistry tuition classes. A lean fellow then, he looked way more arrogant than his seventeen years. Our twelfth board exams were due to begin in three months and he joined my tuition batch for joint entrance examinations. I had already lost my heart to chemistry and the only reason I was part of that group was that I wanted to pursue higher studies in the subject from a premier institute. I don’t remember ever interacting with him while he always nurtured an irritation towards me for consistently topping the class tests. I got through my dream college in Kolkata for pursuing Chemistry Hons. He got through the most coveted medical college there for pursuing M.B.B.S. The funny co-incidence was that our colleges were adjacent. The day we went to bid adieu to our Professor was the only time we spoke wishing each other luck for the future.

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Rat tales – my not so pleasant encounters with the species!

Last afternoon, I was working on my blog trying to brainstorm for the next topic when I  suddenly noticed a small rat run inside the room. The apartment complex, where I reside in Kolkata is getting renovated. It was the turn of our flat to get repainted and repaired this week. Every day I would find some or the other windows/doors kept open by the workers. That would have been the prefect point of entrance for this tiny creature. With my twenty seven month toddler then sleeping on the bed, I had no option but to dial my father who, at that moment was present in the adjacent room. There was no way that I could let my son wake up so fast. Putting him to sleep usually takes more than an hour and I am never willing to let my efforts go waste by waking him up early. After an intense search, we could still not locate it. I couldn’t shake off the entire incident throughout the evening. I am easily intimidated by all insects/animals larger than the cockroach. The moment I spot a lizard somewhere nearby, I scream my heart out. So a rat, despite its tiny statistics is an object of fear for me. I recollected that this was my third encounter with the species, the first being in Delhi.

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