Tag: One Life is Not Enough

one year of one life is not enough – a recap

On By Durga Prasad DashIn memoirs30 Comments

The first blog post was written exactly on this date last year.

Of course this is not my first blog. Two out of the earlier three blogs were lost to unprofessional hosting services. Unfortunately,  in one case I lost half of the posts as well due to my casual attitude towards regular back ups. Now I ensure that I back up regularly even though the blog is now hosted on the server of a trusted service provider.

Another blog that I used to have on blogger platform has been closed down as it was not practicable to have two blogs on the same theme.

I am thankful to all my fellow bloggers and readers for their encouragements and feedback. Hope, your love will continue to shower.

My special thanks to Ruchi Verma of Wiggling Pen (Formerly For Foodie Family) for considering my blog as the best personal blog of 2016.

Here are a random selection of ten posts that you might have missed:

1.   Bhajiwali’s Husband  : My maiden attempt at fiction (short story). Tried to find out a suitable name for the bhajiwali’s husband. But, could not.

2.  I see you as you are : Wouldn’t  it be a nicer world if we saw individuals as individuals stripping each one from their ethnic, religious or other kinds of stereotyping.

avtar2

3. Colours of a subzi bazaar: We are all familiar with a typical Indian subzi mandi. But have we ever taken a close look or soaked in its colourful ambiance? Interestingly captioned, this collection of photos  captures the moods of the neighborhood vegetable market.

sbh

4. It takes all the running you can do to to keep in the same place: Certain quotes and lines that linger your mind vaguely may make sense much later. Same thing happened with this line from ‘Alice in Wonderland’,.

alice_in_wonderland

5. When the wrapper is considered superior to the gift inside: emphasising the inner over the outer, Sant Kabir, in one of his couplets, says – Jat Na Puchho Sadh Ki Puchh Lijyo Gyan. One should not ask for the caste of a saint but know him from his wisdom. Seen from another context the saying highlights the obsession of the society with the outer.

6. Sunday musings and random notes #5: I have posted a series of lighthearted musings titled ‘Sunday musings and random notes’. This one with a few puns thrown in here and there takes a peak into the Bond movies over the years.

sanskari-bond-2

7. My idea of an evolved human being: The title says it all. It is about my idea of an evolved human being. It is what I personally strive to evolve into, in spite of being taken advantage of at times.

8.  The Revelation: My attempt at composing a sher in angrezi. A micro poem of just four lines. I could have as well written it here. Then, you would have missed the photo and some insightful comments.

9.  Suppose dogs were allowed status update: Another micro read. A funny take on the world of social media update. A short read.

10. Love is in the air: An attempt to explore various flavours of love, including the mundane ones.

love3

 

 

 

 

The Monk who is yet to get his Ferrari

On By Durga Prasad DashIn memoirs21 Comments

blogpost-wow-write-your-life-story-in-ten-sentences.jpg

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

In addition to sharing bits and pieces of information about my life on many of the posts here, I have written specific posts covering my personal life. All these have been categorised under 'memoirs' . 

May be this is an opportunity to sum up the journey so far. Maybe, I could be revealing some aspects for the first time in a public forum.

I was born in a remote village in Odisha about half a century ago and spent my early childhood there..

Did all schooling and colleging in government schools and colleges at government expenses (was recipient of generous Government scholarships from class IV till Post-Graduation)

In our days, campus placement was unheard of, but I got a campus selection.
(The head of our High School Campus selected me to marry his daughter.)

 After remaining an academic topper in all the exams till matriculation, decided to dip the academic graph so that I was able to join Indian Air Force, another childhood fascination. (Maybe to pay back part of the Govt. generosity bestowed on me during student days).

Now that our son has crossed fourteen, he is at par with both the parents and his elder sister  to have all the rights in our democratic family where no one imposes anything on another, even though consultations and opinions are actively sought.

While in high school, wanted to become a monk, so ran away from home for a brief period (safely during summer vacation) and stayed in a stranger’s house in Puri near Jagannath Temple.

Spiritual depth came in life after coming in touch with my master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living in 2001.

After living a vagabond life due to a frequently transferable service, came back to the city of my first love, Bengaluru,  in 2011.

In 1996, was bereaved of my mother who was unique, like every one’s mother and in 2008, lost my father – a simple man who never imposed anything on me even in my childhood.

I am a monk who is yet to get his Ferrari – having fun living the contradictions of life – being a mystic and a man of the world at the same time; trying to  delve into the depths of spirituality without getting biased or dogmatic towards anything.
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More about me and my writing journey

On By Durga Prasad DashIn personal menifesto26 Comments

 

Who am I and why do I blog? May be this should have been my first post. But then, it would have been too early. Of course now and then I have shared bits and pieces bout me and my outlooks. Here, let me sum it up and provide the missing pieces.

Four months back I was trying WordPress just as a time pass. I noticed that the domain durgadash.com was available. Then it was an instant decision. I registered for the domain and started this blog. Of course I have another blog where I have been blogging since 2014. Now,  I have stopped updating that blog and  I am planning to close it after sometime as it is not practicable to maintain two similar blogs.

Reading and writing has been a passion since childhood. When I was eighteen, four of my poems were published in an international anthology. After graduating from Berhampur University in 1987, I joined Indian Air force to fulfill another passion, i.e soldiering. In the twenty years of my defense career I traveled a lot, met with a lot of different kinds of people and did a lot many other exciting and mundane things.  But reading and writing took a back seat. In 2008, got released from Air Force after twenty years of honourable yet no so extraordinary service.

In 2009, I started my first blog. It was with Blogger. Sometime in  2011 or 2012, one day I came across an advertisement for cheap hosting options offered by GoDaddy. I got a little tempted. Mine was any way not a commercial blog. However, I thought  why not go for it to give my blog some professional feel. I fell for the bait of cheap hosting and shifted my blog to an independent domain.

However, after six or seven months, to my horror, one day I found that my blog was behaving strangely. The customer care at GoDaddy was also not able to sort out my problem. Subsequently, things became worse and the blog collapsed. I don’t know whether GoDaddy has improved its quality, meanwhile. Another unfortunate lapse from my part was that I had not taken back up of all my posts.

Then, for quite some time I was busy with my professional activities and could not restart my blog till 2014.

Now, coming to the question as to why the hell do I blog, well, I blog to share my passions. Both the visible and the invisible elements of creation fascinate me. I am a wanderer and wonder-er. And, one life is barely enough to experience even a fraction of those passions.Hence my blog – as a kind of plea to the maker is named as  One Life is not Enough. I  have expressed this as a poem, which can be read here. There is also a sequel titled –  One Life is not enough, yet for now, this moment is full in itself. 

So, through my blog I wish to share my passions. My passions which can be shared without being politically incorrect in an Indian context. Photography, poetry, travel, books, movies, personal growth, philosophy and mysticism are some of my passions worth to be listed. I will also share my views and feelings on social issues that I deeply associate with.

As a reader your passions may be different. So, in my blog  please indulge yourself in  whatever you find interesting. And of course your feedback  will be of immense support to me, in my blogging journey in particular and my writing journey in general.

Thank you.

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First blog post

On By Durga Prasad DashIn personal menifesto5 Comments

Welcome to “One Life is Not Enough’ now at WordPress and with an independent domain.

There was this fascination to have a blog in a primary domain. Coincidentally, the domain I was looking for was available. So, here I am, with my new blog. The old blog will continue to exist for some time, maybe till I shift all contents here.

Hope, you will enjoy reading this blog too and continue with your feedback.