A Day With Games And Memories

   I am a great fan of sports and games. It’s been a long time since I participated in any of those activities. This week, as a part of our intra-department sports, many events were held. I didn’t participate in any event, but on the day of badminton I went to watch the match. Before and after the match, I got a chance to play badminton with my friends. It was a nice experience. As I played badminton after a long time, the muscles in my hands got stiff. It caused some pain, but the urge to play didn’t stop. We played singles, doubles, and even triples.

That was also the first time I went to the college pavilion. I had been waiting for a chance to get there. As I reached, my honest expression was, “Wowww! Such a big and beautiful ground.” I was taken back to my good old days when I participated in athletics. The minute I entered the indoor stadium, I was reminded of my kabaddi competitions and practice sessions. All of us spent a good time together, and we learned some new tricks and lessons about the game from our friends. The happiest thing was that our class won badminton. Thus, that day gave me an opportunity to enjoy and travel back to the golden days of my life.

 

                                         Back to stage after a long break

It has been almost one and a half years since I joined this college, yet I often found myself detached from many of the activities taking place here. When I look back at my UG days now, I realize that I did not participate in any programs. I still do not know the exact reason for this. However, at times, I began to feel a desire to be part of some programs or activities.

It was during such a moment that one of my classmates asked me to join a play. I thought she was joking, so I casually said I would join. Only later did I realize that she was actually planning to stage a Malayalam play. I then tried to avoid it because I had participated in a play only once before when I was in the fifth standard. I have always admired people involved in theatre, yet something within me held me back from becoming part of it.

But this time, I prepared myself to participate. It was my friend’s encouragement that gave me the confidence to take part. Now we are actively practicing a Malayalam play, which is an adaptation of the famous Malayalam work Parayipetta Panthirukulam. All of us are excited to present this play. We have even included participants who do not know Malayalam well but still wished to be part of the performance.

I feel that this play will provide us with an opportunity to try something new before we leave this place. The practice sessions, with self-corrections and peer feedback, are motivating each one of us to perform more accurately. We are all eagerly waiting for the day of its presentation.

 

                       Pharma: The darker side of the medicine industry

                     

    Last week I was stuck with my project, and because of so much thinking my head felt like it was exploding, which prevented me from writing my blog. Actually, I wanted to write about a series that I watched, so today I thought I could finally do that. The series is titled Pharma, directed by PR Arun, with Nivin Pauly playing the main character. It is streaming on JioHotstar. This series gives us a picture of how an industry works. Here, they present the pharmaceutical industry where medical representatives themselves are shown as their soldiers. They convince doctors to buy a particular company’s medicine by highlighting its features and benefits. Pharma also shows how medicine companies manufacture drugs that cause other health issues as side effects, and for those affected, the same company provides another medicine. In this way, the company continues to grow.

    Later in the series, several health issues are reported among children, and after research, some doctors find that the reason behind these problems is a reputed company's medicinal products. Under the leadership of a doctor named Janaki, along with other doctors and the victims, a movement begins against the company. Later, one medical representative from that reputed company also joins them.

     I’m not giving the whole story here you can watch the series yourself. It’s not an excellent one, but it talks about a very serious issue. I liked the series for that reason. Towards the end, we see that when many people stand together and fight, they successfully erase that medicine company from the field. The series has eight episodes, and while it’s not a must-watch, I think it works as a one-time watch. One thing that bothered me was the death of Dr. Janaki midway through the story. I kept wondering why the woman character had to die. For me, she was the real heroine because she started the fight against the issue. When the struggle finally succeeds, her absence creates a void. How many of you have watched this series? What did you feel after watching it?

 

                       Music as a Healer.

              Music has a special kind of power that can calm our heart, right? I am a great lover of music, especially feel-good songs in Malayalam. They actually give a special kind of joy to my mind. Sometimes, while sitting alone or while travelling, these songs have the ability to entertain us. Even the hardest work feels very easy when we do it while listening to music. I have also seen some of my friends who listen to music even while they are writing something. After that, once I also tried doing that and simply failed, because I ended up writing the lines of songs in my notebook instead of the original content.

There is a reality show in Malayalam titled Star Singer. It is a singing competition program in which people of different ages compete. I am a great fan of this program and enjoy listening to their songs, especially those involving classical notes. As the internals were going on, I didn’t get time to watch it. But today, as I am having a gap of two days before the next exam, I engaged myself by listening to those songs, and it actually created a kind of peace inside me. Music is truly a healer; it has the power to cool down even the most disturbed mind.

 

                         COUNTING DAYS FOR THE NEXT LEAVE.

           Vacations are over, and it’s time to go back to the hostel and return to the routine of college, exams, and everything else. I am a person who doesn’t like going back to the hostel after a leave. To say it more directly, I am a homesick lady. I start worrying one week before leaving home. Home is my most favorite place in the world, where I can be with my loved ones and spend a lot of time with them. Leaving them and going to another place is very difficult for me. I feel more blessed when our parents and siblings care for and love us even more as the day of our departure approaches. It fills our eyes with tears of joy and also tears of sadness.

One day before leaving home, I usually walk around the house and talk to all the plants, our dogs, hens, and everything around me, saying goodbye to them. My mind keeps thinking, “Oh, by this time tomorrow, I’ll be at the hostel.” The house and its surroundings feel more beautiful that day. I immediately start saying that I don’t want to go back to the hostel and that I want to stay at home, and I end up crying.

As we all know, it is of no use because we have classes to attend, so we must go back. That is the reality. Even though I know this, I cannot control my sadness, and I start crying again when I reach the hostel. I begin to miss my home, parents, siblings, and everything connected to them.

Our home is the most beautiful place in the world. The time we get to spend there with our family is so precious. So I would like to tell my readers to enjoy and be happy when you are with your family, because it is the greatest gift given to us.

I’m waiting for the next leave to go back home.

 

                        BACK TO A FAMILIAR PLACE.

            I am a person who likes to travel a lot, and when the journey is to the place where I studied for three years, it feels even more special. As there was a marriage in my cousin’s family, we had to go to Kottayam. When I heard about this, I was very happy because I could visit the place where I completed my degree education. Actually, I wanted to go to my college to meet my dear teachers and staff there. I still keep in touch with them. But since the marriage was on a Saturday, the college was closed, and I lost my chance to go there. This made me sad, but I adjusted myself, as at least I was able to travel to the place and on the same bus in which I used to travel during my college days.

Something very unexpected happened just as we started our bus journey. When the bus stopped for dinner, a man came inside and sat in one of the ladies’ seats. When the conductor came back and asked for the ticket, he replied, “Ticket… for what? Why should I give money?” He was drunk, and when asked about the place he wanted to go, he was not even aware of it. Instead of answering, he kept asking the conductor, “Where is this bus going?” As the man was not cooperating, all the passengers felt uneasy, and the bus was stopped in between. Everyone asked him to get down, as he was a nuisance to all. He did not listen, and at last, somehow the conductor pulled him out of the bus. Then one of the travellers told us that this had become a daily routine for the man for the past three or four days. Because of this, the bus journey kept getting delayed, and once, a passenger who had to reach an examination centre was not able to reach on time. This was a very different experience during my travel.

Talking about the climate, it was very cold. Even though the windows were closed, the wind entered from somewhere, and all of us sat covering ourselves with sweaters. When we reached Kottayam, the cold climate followed us there as well. As soon as I stepped down from the bus at the KSRTC Depot, I was reminded of the days when I used to come here for my UG college and wait at this bus stand for the bus back home. My mind was filled with a rollercoaster of memories.

By 8:30 a.m., we reached our relative’s house. There lives a grandmother who is very loving. I used to visit this house whenever I got two days’ leave during my degree days. She was very happy when all of us came together. We talked a lot, had food together, and practiced the programs for the marriage reception. The marriage ceremony and the reception were really enjoyable. We all had a wonderful time with family and cousins, though we missed a few who were busy with their examinations.

After all the programs, we started our journey back home, carrying many beautiful moments in our minds  that can be cherished forever.

 

           My 30 Days Blogging Journey

      I was a person who was not confident about my own writing skills. I don’t actually know what made me think so. This thought was continuously troubling me, and I wanted to write on my own and improve my writing skills. I was not even sure about myself when it came to writing a blog. To be honest, I considered myself a bad writer. To get a proper start, I decided to meet one of my professors whom I believed could help me for sure. I took an appointment with the professor and talked for some time. This actually made me realise that I was doing a very bad thing by demotivating myself and thinking that my writing didn’t look nice.

One of the things he asked me when I told him about my disinterest in my own writing was, “If all the news writers consider their own writing as bad and hesitate to write, would we be able to get news every day? Just think.” This struck my mind and made me understand that we should never consider our own skills as valueless. We must give value to our skills and use them with confidence; otherwise, we ourselves are destroying them.

After the talk, I decided to start writing blogs first as a continuous 30-day challenge and later as a weekly practice. Now I have successfully reached my 30th blog without any break in between. I can confidently feel that writing every day has helped me improve my writing skills and style. Thanks to my friends who proofread my writings, and thanks to my professors who appreciated and inspired me, because it meant a lot. At first, I was very hesitant to share my writing with my friends as I felt it was not good enough, but when they gave suggestions, corrections, and appreciation, I was able to write more freely. Now, as I complete these 30 days of blogging, I am very happy that I can write more easily than before. This daily writing practice has truly helped me. Some days I felt like I had nothing to write, but whenever I tried, it always ended with at least a paragraph about something.

The same thing happened today when I sat down to write this blog. I was not sure what to write. I thought of writing about my book, but when I opened the page to write, the idea of writing about what made me start blogging and how I feel after 30 days came to me instantly. As I started typing, thoughts came very easily to my mind and helped me continue writing. I am so happy that now I am able to write more confidently, and I will continue this practice. From now on, I will post a blog once a week, and I think this will actually make the writing better, as I can include more ideas in it.

I want to tell my friends and readers those who feel like writing something should just start. Writing a blog will actually help you improve your writing; I am saying this from my own experience. Don’t think, “What will others say about my writing?” Just write whatever comes to your mind freely. If possible, ask a friend or someone you trust to proofread it so that you can get good suggestions and corrections. As we continue writing, we can feel the changes like the rush of thoughts, the flow of ideas, the difference in the pace of our writing, and so much more. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Start today itself. This is the right time for a new beginning.