11/28/2016 by Monica Morgan

One’s typical 2016 journal would include pictures at the Copacabana beach in the summer, or breathtaking shots while conquering the world’s craziest zip lines. Mine’s a bit different. It doesn’t manifest itself physically.

Before we delve to my ultimate memories in 2016, here are the ten happiest moments in life as per The Huffington Post.

To tell you, my most unforgettable memories are somehow unorthodox.

Living with Depression

Three years – that’s how long I was hobbled by clinical depression. I’ve also been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which eventually led to Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I hated myself, my body, the way I live, and what not. I was so crippled that I even failed to muster the strength to get out of my room for weeks.

I was hopeless. It seemed to me that meds and psychotherapy just made my condition worse. I slept the whole day for months, and I cut off ties with my friends and colleagues. I was on the brink of dying inside.

That Magnificent November the 10^th Dinner

It was supposed to be my normal routine – sleep for 12 hours, ruminates over negative thoughts for 4 hours, eat, and go back to sleep. What was different on that November evening? It felt like I woke up from a deep slumber.

While eating, I noticed that our family’s morale seemed low. My mom’s usual gleeful smile was not on her face, and my dad and siblings appeared anxious too. That was the turning point. I realized that I cannot live in fear and paranoia anymore. I have to get out of this sapping void.

I finally cracked a genuine smile. That moment, to me, was so surreal. My family finally had a breather upon seeing that I’m trying. They finally got back the cheerful son and brother they once lost.

That exact memory of happiness and freedom from unrealistic fears is something to cherish for my 2016.

Finally Living.

Depression is a mental illness that relapses. I know that it can bother me again, but I’ve developed my personal mantras this time:

“My greatest fear is never trying.”

“I miss 100% of the opportunities I don’t take.”

“Thinking negatively does nothing but holds me back from what I can achieve.”

“There’s more to life than being depressed. My will power is stronger than this.”

So my second best memory for 2016 is my every waking day seeing these mantras stuck on my closet. Those always remind me to live well.

Bouncing Back Harder in Every Aspect of Life

The top five biggest regrets, as enumerated by Huffington Post’s writer Natasha Hinde, are the following:

Of the five, I may be guilty of the first three. Now, my third best memory is my everyday pursuit of correcting those.

For my career, I decided to make a career shift. My previous line of work offered             better compensation, but limited self-expression. Meanwhile, content writing and blogging gave my life a better purpose. The sheer joy of helping out readers and sharing a part of you are things that cannot be remunerated.

Another headway that I made this year is rekindling my old confidence. I’m back being the life of the party, and my friends understand me – and my battles – better now. From this point, there are only better things to come for me.

To wrap it up, my unforgettable memories are all about getting up after being down for so long. It’s something I won’t exchange for any luxurious trips or paid vacations. Those who stuck with me through the good and bad are people I will carry forward my 2017.

If you’re still struggling in making good memories this 2016, there’s still more than a month to capture those. The greatest memories in life are the small joys and victories we often take for granted. Be grateful and live well J

Author Bio

Monica Morgan is a free-spirited woman having vast experience in article writing. She loves to travel Asian countries, writing reviews on each of them on her Hqessays.com. She prefers using diverse writing styles to properly engage with a wide array of readers.

This is a third interview with you Sabi and it feels great to be in a continued touch with you and seeing your success day by day. Congratulations for your second Novel.

There are few questions from me that I am sure even readers wanted to know about so how have the past two years changed your life after your first book launch?

So you talked about clear goals in life, what are the goals that we are going to see you accomplishing in next few years?

Actually, it’s a secret. At the end when they will fulfill everybody will know.

There is an inspiration for everything and when we talk about” Knocked out - a Crispy Punch of Love” Where the inspiration came from?

The Writer inside this Beast of a Man inspired me to keep going and never stop. I didn’t want to end up being a one book wonder when I have so many stories floating around in my head. So, I just pulled one out from the closet and penned it down.

And Walla!! Knocked Out was born…

That’s really great to be inspired by the own soul, so what was the audience response after they heard about your second book?

They backed me up and are always very encouraging. They like to watch me grow and succeed. I owe a lot to them as I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t accepted me as a Writer.

 The first book was a love story, which was the incident that made you write next book on a sport?

I’ve always been into sports.

Football, Hockey, Athletics, Boxing and Bodybuilding. Sports has taught me discipline and has helped me grow as a person. I’ve taken a lot from sports and it was time to give something back.

Was writing the second novel a different experience when compared to your debut novel?

         The only difference was that during Via Delhi, I was jobless so I had all the time in the world to write it. During Knocked Out I was professionally a little more sorted so it was all about time management.

So how did you manage the time and what was the normal working day in life while shaping up the novel?

                       Everything remained the same except for me cutting down on leisure time. I stopped watching movies and documentaries which I usually do after getting back home from the office. I cut that off completely and dedicated a couple of hours to writing every night.

That is really a serious hard work you did in completing the novel. It is a tough decision to follow dream by really doing something for it and devoting your time regularly. What were things that kept your focus on without any deviations?

We have seen the word a million times in articles, magazines, blogs, even Facebook, but it is very likely we do not have the slightest idea of what “Networking” actually means. We might relate it directly to Facebook and we definitely know it is an important tool when it comes to doing business. But, do we know its actual objective? Networking can be defined as the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions, and it specifically refers to the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business. Now that we finally know what it means, how do we get it done? Should we just go to parties, meetings, benefits and events, talk to people about our company or business, exchange business cards and be sociable? Yes, that is exactly what a networker does. The main idea is to make new contacts with the objective of forming mutually beneficial business relationships. That is it! Now you are an expert on the subject.

There is another aspect we have to consider, why go ahead and do business networking? Some entrepreneurs and business owners actually think business networking is a more cost-effective method of getting new clients than advertising or public relations. Business networking can be conducted in a local business community, or on a larger scale on the Internet. Social networks play a very important role for companies nowadays. Even law firms and oil companies have Facebook and Twitter in order to attract more clients and be able to get the word out there about what they do. Social networks make companies more approachable to the general public and potential future clients. That is the reason why the position of Community Manager has boomed over the last five years. If it is not on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, your company literally does not exist.

To be the greatest networker known to man, just follow these simple, yet life changing tips:

Argentina | Australia | Austria | Bahrain | Belgium | Brazil | Canada | Chile | China |Colombia | Costa Rica | Czech Republic | Denmark | Ecuador | Egypt | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hong Kong |  Hungary | India | Indonesia | Ireland | Italy | Israel | Japan | Kazakhstan | Kuwait  | Luxembourg | Malaysia | Mexico | Morocco  | Netherlands | New Zealand | Nigeria | Norway | Oman | Panama | Peru | Philippines | Poland | Portugal | Puerto Rico | Qatar | Romania | Russia | Saudi Arabia | Singapore | South Africa | South Korea | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Taiwan | Turkey | UK | Ukraine | United Arab Emirates | Uruguay | USA | Venezuela | Vietnam 

Manthan Samvaad 2016 - Part 1

The first thought that came into my mind after hearing this event name is about spirituality. The word “Manthan” I relate with was thinking about something by going into the depth. The kind of image I was having in my mind for “Manthan Samvaad” is of monks having some deep discussions. In reality, the discussion was deep but not between the monks but between the intellectuals. This is the second time I attended this event and because of its awesomeness, I am unable to stop myself giving a space to it in my blog. The world should hear about it and about its talks. I never saw such diversity on the subjects in a single forum.

The event started its first talk with a personality who known to be the savior of the country in bad times Dr YV Reddy (Former Governor , Reserve Bank of India) the topic was Centre-state Relations. Through his talk, he emphasized on various things like how the planning commission works?  How the state and centre decided about the money? How the flow of money governed by the government while distributing to states? He emphasized on points like  how government should make sure that every state should be equally unhappy note my point equally unhappy rather than equally happy because whatever is provided from the centre to state, states will always ask for more. The planning changes every five years as the government changes. There is more cooperation between ministries than between state as whole. Before negotiating with third party in a country there are challenges negotiating in between themselves. The talk revolved around the various outcomes, challenges, problems and solutions.

The Second talk was from Aakar Patel (Author , Columnist) on the topic “English & its influence on our national priorities”. He impressed me as an audience with his beautiful Urdu with which he started the talk. I was amazed to see him speaking in Urdu with full on action later understanding the mood of the audience he continued with English. There was the depth in his talk which revolves around us the 2.5% of the people who use English as a first language. He pointed out how newspapers and print media have changed in last few decades. Media wants to show only news in which upper class is having an interest, there is coverage for indirani mukerjea but media forget to cover tribal belts. There is coverage about a single death but no coverage for death in Kashmir and North East. He took an example how none of the cases is been taken by the centre for violations and killings in these areas. He went on and on. The one point that I liked about his mentioning of the situation why country listen to this higher class English speaking people because they can communicate in common language despite of belonging to a different part of the country but in case of lower poor class people they do not have options to communicate for common cause, a poor  from Telangana will speak in telugu a poor from Gujrat in gujrati and a poor from Karnataka in kannada this is how they can’t raise voice for common cause.

The next talk came from Bezwada Wilson(Activist and Raman Magsaysay Awardee) on “Democracy , Human Dignity & Manual Scavenging” which was so powerful that the audience given him a standing ovation. The powerful words he expressed cannot be explained, the emotion he carried out through his talk cannot be described. If you really want to see the pain for Dalits and lower class people you have to meet him not some politician. He described his journey fighting with the system for the upliftment of his people. He cursed the Manual Scavenging and asked us to answer why a human need to carry waste of another human. If there is a technology to go in space why government not introducing it for scavenging purpose? He flew with a thought process by involving each and every audience and questioned the system who still see people in a caste system. If there is no cast why people still add names “Dalit,maha Dalit” in front of posts ? Why people still not ready to accept the equality?  He even raised a question that earlier people told them what to do and now they are telling what to eat? He raised questions of why the people who cannot afford a toilet has to pay for it and who can afford use it for free? He raised questions on why people can spent such a huge amount of money on swach bharath abhiyaan but cannot give a basic necessities to the people who are doing this service from 5000 years not even they got any credit from the society but still seen as untouchables.

I really saw the pain he was talking about for his people, how it takes continuous effort to him in understanding why they are forced to do such things?He talked about education , he talked about  governance , he talked about the process of courts in India, he talked about government bodies and he talked how they differentiate it in accepting the truth and neglecting completion of the promises what has been told by them.

Keep an eye on the blog will be posting about experiences of  below talks soon in next articles:-

1. Sofia Ashraf ( Rapper & Singer) on Rhyme & Reason: A musical Autobiography

2. Josy Joseph(Journalist,National Security Editor, The Hindu) on Vultures of Modern India

3. Manoj Saxena(Expert in Machine Learning,Venture Capitalist) on How Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the way we work .live and play

4. Pramath Raj Sinha(Founder, Ashoka University) on World Class Education in India

Shayad ye mera pahla blog hai jo main apni zabaan me likh raha hun, Kabhi khyaal aata hai ki kya koi is zabaan ko padhta bhi hoga ? agar padhta hai to kya kabhi kuch sochta bhi hoga ? Aaj humari zindagi mein ek soch si kayam ho gayi hai ki agar aap hindi ka istimal karein to aap ek bahut pichre hue tabke se tallukh rakhte hain, log aapko ek touheen bhari Nazar se dekhenge , log kahenge to kuch nahi bs aapke bare me andaaze lagainge aur mahfilon me uchalenge. Mera angrezi me likhna wajib tha jo maine apne saare pichli baton me zikr kiya hai wo zabaan angrezi hi thi , ek tabqa hai jo angrezi ko bade chaav se padh raha hai jo aaj ka convent da hai , jo angrezi schoolon se padha hua hai , jo angrezi college se degree le aaya hai. Mai nahi jaanta ki wo hindi ko bhi utne hi chaav se padhta hai ki nahi par padhta to hoga hi . Kabhi samose aur pakode khane baithta hoga to zaror kuch harf akhbaar ke haath me aaye honge aur zaroor usne socha hoga ki kya is zaban se mera tallukh hai koi ?

Bade faqr se kahta hai woh ki , mai angrezi jaanta hun ,

Zara pooch usse ki kya who khud ko janta hai !!

Mai ye nahi kahta ki kya galat hai aur kya sahi hai par jab girehbaan me jhankta hun to zaroor sochta hun ki sach hai ki maine seekh li angrezi par kya ye bhi sach hai ki maine seekh liya khud ko utarna angrezi mein. Ye sach hai ki is duniya mein agar aage badhna hai to angrezi seekhna hoga , koi ek bhasha kitne logon tak pahunchti hogi ? Koi ek bhasha ko koi kitna parhta hoga? Bahut kam hi honge jo isko padhte honge par kya kuch log nahi hain jo angrezi bilkul nahi jaante wo bilkul nahi jante koi haraf uska , kya unke liye bhi koi likhta hoga , aaj aap kahoge ki agar internet par koi baith kar blog padhega to kya wo hindi padhega , google bhi soch me padta hoga ki koi hindi bhi search karta hai kya? Hum kitna bhi hindi ki baat kyun na karen mai abhi script to angrezi ki hi istimal  kar raha hun.

Bahut aarzoo se maine khud ko pesh kiya apni zabaan mein,

Baad mein yaad aaya ki harf to abhi bhi udhaar ke hain !!

Ye kuch aisa maashra khada ho gaya hai ki hum bhool gaye hain ki khud ko jitna aacha hum apni khud ki bhasha me samjha sakte hain utna udhaar liye hue nahi , maana ki aaj saari zarrortein angrezi bhasha se hi poori hoti hain , aaj koi bhi kaam aisa nahi jahan iske bagair kuch hassil ho jai par kya ye bhi zaroori hai ki apni bhasha ko qurbaan kar dein , kya ye zaroori hai ki koi ek bhasha acchi hai aur ek buri , mere mutabik to bilkul nahi agar bhashaon ka takaza ho sakta hia to sirf is baat par ki log kisko jaante hai , par aaj bhi ek aam aadmi apni matrbhasha se zyada lagaav karega banizbat kisi aur se. Aaj bhi log samjahte hain apni hi bhasha mein bhale hi koi kitni bhi acchi baat bata de. AAj bhi log ghazlon ko zyada doob kar sunte banizbat koi English pop ko. Kya zaroori hai ki aap angrzi mi likho tabhi accha likhoge ? kya koi American hindi ko translate kar ke padhta hoga jaise hum angrezi ko translate karke padhte hain? Kya batein logon ki samjh me zyada khud ki bhasah me aati hain ya jo likhte hain unki bhasaha mein? Bahut se sawaal hain magar jawaab khain nahi.

Mai samjha raha ek bhasha ki ahmiyat ahle zamaane ko,

Zara pooch mjhse kya mai khud ise samajh paaya !!

Bahut hi gahraiyun me sochta hun to paata hun ki bahut si bhashayen aaye is zamane me aur bahut se logon ne bahut kuch seekha harek bhasha mein par kisi ne ye bhi nahi kaha ki ye accha hai aur ye bura, Is bhasha me likhoge to ye acchi baat aur nahi likha to ye buri baat, Kya wajah hai ki log ghabrate hain baat karte hue ki kahin beizzati na ho jaye , agar ki kabhi badi mahfilon me ek dossri bhasha ka galat istimaal bhi garta hai to log adab se samjha kyun nahi dete ki kya sahi hai aur kya galat aur mazaak is baat ka banate hain ki tmhare muh se harf sahi nahi nikal rahe?

Badi bechain raahein hain , Bade kism ke swaal hain,

Kis bhasha me kaho main bataon tmko,

Ki Mere dil mein kya khayaal hain !!

It’s been two years passing out of the college. Life went on the roller coaster ride for these 24 months. The day I stepped out from the college was the happiest day of my life, there were boundaries that I was going to cross, and I was entering into the real world from the world that was running from rules and policies. I was happy about the fact that there will be no exams and I was right. There were no exams in last 24 months of pen and paper but I had to face a lot of real exams.

The days were started waiting for joining letter from the company that was giving me the opportunity to start the career. I was happy and why shouldn’t I as I was among the few people who got campus placement in the first attempt. The feeling to start earning money for the first time and the feeling to explore the world outside boundaries of imagination is always different it’s more like the smell that we feel after first rain. There were lot of dreams and a lot more expectations and more imagination about how the life is going to be change in next few months I hope everybody dreams the same as I did after passing out of the college but very rare get the sense about what is going to happen in future. So let me tell you in advance:-

You will not get any degrees for learning life skills for all these two years but the value will be more what you were learned through all your education. 

“Art of living alone” why did I choose such a topic to write about? There are an enormous number of topics that still exist in this world to cover. You can think about … who in the world of facebook and twitter tells to follow an Art that is saying to live alone? But the answer is simple; living alone is an art that needs a lot of practice, patience, and dedication to follow. The people who are introvert just ask from them, they can give a full speech on this.

So let’s talk about the stages that can trouble you to follow this lifestyle. Nobody chooses to live alone but the circumstances that hit a person to live in this situation. Might be there is a reason that you are out of town living life in a totally different city, might be you are living with the people with no common interest, might be people think that you are a fool, and might be you think that you are the fool.

So reason is whatever but it will put you in a situation where nobody is willing to talk you and you are not able to find people who can talk to you. There could be a reason that you are an artist while the people you meet belong to the commercial world. You hate being in pubs, parties but people around you love it. You love doing one to one communication but people hate. This ultimately put you in a situation where people go in distress and depression. Here comes the medicine “An Art of living alone”. Yes, you read it right it is a therapy.

These are the hacks that I thought are best, if you know other please comment here…