I am a storyteller

I woke up to a Sunday morning without the sun. It felt like the rainy days at school when you can wake up late and your mother won't worry about it. I was contended with this feeling up until a thought struck me, It was TTT workshop day. A shiver ran down my spine. I had waited for this day to arrive from past three weeks. And now that it has finally arrived, rain was all set to ruin it for me? My mom, on the other hand, was unusually happy about the fact that I might be forced to ditch my plans, stay back at home and study. I tried to adhere to philosophical beliefs I occasionally feed my mind with. These beliefs stated " If you try to step out and take a step to follow your heart, you will never go to bed with regrets". And I decided to take a stand for my heart, in what seemed like a million years. I got dressed up, packed my notebook , took my umbrella and marched out of the main door with my head held high. I was calm unlike all the moments I have been in past few months where a slight challenge would stir the panic monster in me. May be it was because I was abiding to what my beliefs suggested me to do : follow your heart. As the cab swooshed through the traffic I looked outside the window and for the first time in weeks, I let my mind wander. My mind kissed freedom and cried tears of joy which reflected as raindrops on my window.

Through the looking glass, Rain painted my dreams.

The cab dropped me at the venue. I stood there on the footpath holding my one-leg broken umbrella, searching for similar lost souls. I heard two girls talking about Terribly Tiny Tales workshop. I walked up to them, struck a conversation and was relieved by the fact that I have company amidst the jovial crowd. As we stepped in, my happiness hormones flushed throughout my body. The place was a little wonderland for creative minds. It had a feeling of familiarity yet mystery associated with it. Rooms had corners, painted in different shades of happiness. As I turned towards a wall, my image looked back at me, smiling. The mirror was positioned perfectly.

The Doodle Room - Dreamers march in here!

The herd of lost audiences were directed towards the hall where seating arrangements were being done. And if all this wasn't enough to make you feel high on happiness, we were served hot samosa on a rainy afternoon. Ice-tea, potato chips and "sandesh" were also part of the snacks platter. As we hushed our growling stomach with hot samosas, the workshop began.

Anuj (CEO and Co-founder of Terribly Tiny Tales) took us to the very beginning of TTT, how it came to life, and under what circumstances. He unveiled his inspiration, motivation and vision behind TTT and I sat there captivated. It never occured to me until then this was the moment I had been dreaming about for weeks. I was living that moment and with every story Anuj unveiled about TTT, I dived deeper in love with story-telling. 

He gave us a magic mantra - the three pillars of writing if you want your audience to appreciate your work. Think about what you want say, write it down and then work on it until you amaze yourself with your work. 

He walked us through the exercise of writing and the ideas and words that came out from everyone in the room was fascinating. I understood what Anuj meant when he said we are all wired up to become storytellers at some point of our lives. And it was true. Right there, in those moments, as the sound of heavy rain drowned all other noises, our souls were finally finding stories to wake up to. We were all giving in to the idea that we are all storytellers in making or may be we were storytellers waiting, for our chance to narrate our stories to the world.

TTT team and organisers

Thank you TTT for making this rainy day worth getting drenched in.

Be it rain or Be it words,When each pours, dreams and memories embrace each other and reincarnate.

Create a Positive Bubble

Two months ago, I was a devastated soul. Every event that was occurring around me told me something was wrong with me. I was unable to figure out what and I sank deeper into the pool of sadness. It was bleak everywhere I looked at. I am a gregarious person by nature. But in those days of low motivation I chose solitude. I needed to reset everything. I needed to work on myself. And that's when I understood what it meant by "Be you own HERO!". 

       I have people around me who constantly strive to keep me happy and carefree. They work their way through my twisted moods just to hear that one cheerful laugh. And I feel blessed by their presence. But they can't help me if I push them away. When you are struck by all bad news around you, that how you start behaving. You start pushing people away for you lose hope and you lose trust. You feel deceived by everyone and everything that you had put your hopes upon. And I can't blame you for that for I know you are doing all that unconsciously. 

It is moments like these when you have to work on yourself. Remind yourself of all the good things you did in your life. Remind yourself all that you are capable of. You are driving on a bumpy road but that is okay. You are just getting some time to slow down. May be you needed this time to relish what you have. You have time. You can work on whatever had been pending while you were busy with your academic deadlines. You wanted to learn something new. Head one girl! Now is the time. And trust me that walk through to dark woods to the beautiful valley of flowers ain't going to be easy. But that shouldn't worry you. You have two feet and a beating heart, You are alive and you choose to keep moving. That's all you need. 

      Optimism is crucial ingredient of success. I always heard people say that. I don't know for myself if that holds true or not, but what good has pessimism ever brought to us? I don't think it's going to harm anyone if you sip a spoonful of optimism everyday when you wake up and every night before you head for your dreams. 

People around you have a role to play in this. They might be carrying a secret needle meant to pop you bubble of positivism. They will come with a face that looks scared, and when you try to empathize with them (which, mind you, they knew you would), they pop your bubble. They tell you how harsh reality is and how difficult drive ahead it is. My friend, you need to take a few step back from them. You need to focus on the good things remember? And you have to be your knight in shining armor. You are your own princess and you have to protect your bubble, sorry I mean, your kingdom of positive thoughts from all external threats.

As long as you believe in yourself, things will fall into place. You will reach where you are destined to be. Just show up when everyone else quits.