Guinness Book of World Records

There are now more than 20,000 poems on Boloji. Time and again I've thought of giving my name to Guinness Book to see if I hold the world record for editing and publishing more than 17,000 poems :-) When I joined Boloji in April 2005, there were a little over 2000 poems. It's gonna be my 10th year with Boloji next year. Till date I've edited and published on Boloji almost daily except the days when I've been really unwell or when I've been out of station on holidays. Till date I've edited and published on Boloji almost daily except the days when I've been really unwell or when I've been out of station on holidays. Not that I've enjoyed it every day because a daily reading & writing routine can get tedious and monotonous but those moments when I get to read some really good poems making them Ed's Choice I feel so contented. When I had joined Boloji, Rajender Ji used to picturise the poems and he kept doing it for some more years till I took over. Finding a befitting picture for a particular poem does take time but when it all beautifully matches and falls in place, the feeling is so sublime. I feel immensely pleased being able to decorate a poem with a nice picture. Moments like these keep me attracted to Boloji poetry even though all my work is voluntary. It's a non-paid role and I'm not in it for monetary remuneration. My love for good poetry and good pics from our Getty Images gallery keeps me going despite the hard work I need to put in every day juggling my familial responsibilities of taking care of my 2 children for whom I'm their primary carer as my hubby has very long working and commuting hours. Life and health permitting, I'll go on....till death comes my way. Hence with regard to Boloji, even my children keep egging me to put my name for Guinness Book :-)

But I won't do it as Name and Fame have always given me hiccups because I've always had a bad reputation ;-)

LOL

I and hubby keep joking that as a business analyst, he's donated his eyes to IT, being in front of the PC 24/7 as there's always so much of work pressure, so many deadlines to meet, so many projects to complete. Sometimes I really feel sorry for him as he has to wake up nights to finish pending work. Being a team leader, even though he delegates some tasks to his subordinates, but he is responsible for the overall performance because if anything goes wrong, he'll be held accountable. Hence, he's always on edge to see if all's working OK. I also wonder if those organ donation people will be interested in my eyes after my death, as I've already donated my eyes to Boloji and hence, the person receiving my eyes might feel dreadful opening them if all he gets to see are lines and lines of prolific poetry ;-) esp. if he's not a poetic person. Imagine his plight, thanks to me ;-)

LOL

Anyway jokes apart, just wanted to update you that not all of my 1400+ poems are on Boloji as my permanent database has always been PH because it allows me to make an E-Book of my poems which I diligently do after every 3-4 months so that I have the latest copy with myself and of course, I've circulated this E-Book amongst my trusted pals so that they can preserve it for posterity.

PH has not always been good with publishing. There have been many software bugs that have time and again made the formatting of my poems look awry and despite repeated attempts at fresh submissions, those HTML errors stay. Also, if you notice, poems with the same titles have to be always put with some kind of symbols otherwise the PH online publishing software doesn't accept it thinking those are repeats of old poems. For e.g. if I write a poem with the Title: You the next time I submit a different poem with a different content but with the same title You, I have to submit it to PH as - You - and then the next time as ~ You ~ and then as > You < and then again as < You > and so on and so forth....Many times, I keep running out of symbols and of course, all this symbolizing does make my poems look stupid but I have no way out. I've even written to them regarding this major flaw but they haven't been able to sort this out. Thankfully, on Boloji, you can see that many of my different poems with the same Titles don't have any silly symbols attached to them.

http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Writers&WriterID=2140

I think the online PH software is akin to the Microsoft word software wherein if we want to save 2 documents with the same names, it will tell us that the document already exists and do we need to replace the old file with the new one even though the content in both the files may be different, only the Titles are the same. Just as Microsoft doesn't recognize that the 2 same titled Files could have different content, similarly, PH cannot recognize that 2/3/4 poems with the same title can have different content. I wish PH gets rid of such online bugs and limitations so that it becomes more progressive in publishing. It is giving us an excellent service with the PDF facility and also the facility that helps us download all our poems and save those in a Text File. I wish it all success and a lot more progress in all its poetic endeavours.

That's a lot of PH analysis for now.

Wishing you all a Happy Diwali :-)



Love always,
As Ever, AC

--
The AC Daily - Please See

http://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1319026420

Today's News - Please Peruse

https://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1400751156#

NPPQ - For You To View :-)

https://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1411211241#

Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives, and remembering what one receives. - Dumas

Image © Getty Images dot Com (Courtesy: Boloji)

Autumn is here

The trees are shedding their leaves and the streets are littered with the remnants of their withering lives.

Winter is fast approaching and the cold winter I'm dreading as I've always liked the summers here.

Not that all the days are nice and warm in summer but we make the most of those days when it's wonderful weather here - lovely long hours of warm sunshine - nice, bright and sunny :-)

Far better than the icy, cold winters of lashing rain, strong winds and snowy blizzards.

Though last year, it was a bit better as it didn't snow here in Essex. Don't know about this year.

Heavy snow makes the roads dangerous to drive. Very slippery road conditions. Even walking is a pain.

One never knows when one could lose balance and slip on melting snow and then of course, with broken limbs, you have nowhere to go ;-) but sit tight in bed to recuperate - life becomes so slow.

Hence, praying that you and me and all out there have a safer Winter - esp. those who live in places where it snows heavily.

Well, is this all the reason why I've come to you today?!

No, not to talk all about the dreary winter that is going to come anyway whether we like it or loathe it.

There is a lot more I need to share with you.

Here is a slideshow of Spring - Summer Blossoms 2014 that I clicked in our home garden and also in our nearby Chalkwell Park.

http://please-peruse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/blossoms.html

Hope you enjoy the show.

Happy viewing and Happy sharing :-)

Love always,
As ever, AC

--
The AC Daily - Please See

http://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1319026420

Today's News - Please Peruse

https://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1400751156#

Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Image © Getty Images dot Com (Courtesy: Boloji)

Blossoms

In case the above slideshow stops playing in the middle, here is where you can see each and every photo of this album.

Spring - Summer Blossoms 2014

Photography by Aparna Chatterjee

What is MS ?!

No, it is not manuscript just because PS stands for postscript ;-)

Jokes apart, on a serious note, if you or any of your acquaintances are suffering from weakness or paralysis, have walking, balance and coordination problems, there is numbness in your face, body and other extremities, you also have vision problems, fatigue and pain, and to worsen it all, you are also suffering from bladder or bowel dysfunction, dizziness, vertigo, involuntary muscle spasms and feelings of stiffness (which could be spasticity), sexual dysfunction, cognitive difficulties, depression and other emotional changes - to add to this list of symptoms, you could also be experiencing abnormal sensations like "pins and needles", "electric shocks", speech disorders, swallowing difficulties, headaches, seizures, hearing loss, tremors, breathing problems and itching, then it's time to head straight for some important blood tests, neurological examinations, VEPs and MRIs to see if it is the early onset of MS or some other dreaded disease. MS (Multiple Sclerosis), if detected early, can be managed and its fast progression can be slowed down using some phenomenal therapeutic techniques that are now available to us, thanks to the dedicated research of the scientific community.

Now, what is MS or Multiple Sclerosis? It is a chronic, disabling, autoimmune disease of the CNS - Central Nervous System. In MS, the immune system attacks the CNS and so in this inflammatory disease, the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged and this damage adversely affects vision, balance, strength, sensation, coordination and many other basic bodily functions.

I'm not scare-mongering here and I'm not writing this article to scare you off but I want to drive home the point that if at any point of time you are experiencing a whole host of symptoms similar to the ones enlisted above, instead of sitting upon those and playing the endurance game, it's time you took immediate action for a good prognosis rather than leaving it a tad too late when nothing can be done to ease off the pain and suffering.

I came to know about MS and a lot more....especially about all those brave people who are down with MS but with their strength, grit, resilience and determination they try to keep their spirits up. Every day, they pledge to live it on....fight it on....and take on MS as if they are in a war-zone striving to succeed against all odds. My hats off to them. If you want to read their inspiring life stories, this is the book you need to buy.



I bought it from Amazon

This book has been edited by The Healing Project and all proceeds from the sale of this book would be donated to them. They are a non-profit organization founded in 2005 to support those challenged with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.
__________________________________________________________________

And now, let me take leave of you by sharing some nice, new quotes with you :-)

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however. - Richard Bach

If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get. -  Frank A. Clark

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. - Albert Einstein

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands. - Richard Bach

Don't settle for a life that doesn't bring you cheers but tears. - Philip T. M.

Cheers
Aparna

--
The AC Daily - Please See

http://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1319026420

Google Posting - Happy Perusing :-)

https://plus.google.com/117466581567846877904/posts

People who are sensible about love are incapable of it. -  Douglas Yates

Companion

Let me begin this Blog with this nice Quote I came across the other day.

Yes, I can very well relate to it as I owe a lot to solitude for it makes me think, feel, reflect, read, write and create.

Every day I need some precious moments of solitude to be myself, to be with me, so that I can make some sense of how my mind, my heart, my soul and my self work.

They are all within me but in the busy humdrum of life with my diurnal duties of a mother, a daughter, an editor and a wife, I often seem to lose touch with them.

Solitude helps me regain access to my inner potential, my inner voice, my inner thoughts and feelings and then I reach out to you to express them :-) through my writings.

Well, this blog is not all about solitude and companionship.

The reason why I've come to you today is to tell you about this New Paper which I've launched.

It is still very much in its nascent stage as I'm yet to add many more content sources but as it stands today, it looks good, not bad, I must say ;-)

The paper is NPPQ - For You To View :-)

NPPQ denotes - News, Pix, Poems & Quotes - updated daily for your Notes :-)

This paper is different from the other 2 papers of AC Daily and Today's News because it will have more of poems and quotes.

I plan to feature my favourite Boloji poems in this Newspaper through the RSS of Ed's Choice and of course, whenever I get to read a nice poem somewhere in the web, it will be there on this Paper.

As for Quotes, you'll find many nice sayings in this Paper sourced from various websites.

Hope you like this new venture.

Do spread the word if you like it :-) so that more people come and see it and my Paper gets some regular readers :-)

Thanks
Aparna

--

YouTube Playlists - Happy Playing :-)

https://www.youtube.com/user/playingplaylists/playlists

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this person into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Image Courtesy: Brainy Quote dot Com

Friendship

Friendship
Is all about
Caring and
Sharing...

Is that so?

Well, I didn't
Know ;-)

Now, that I know

Let me
Let you
Know -
That I'm
Not your
Friend ;-)
'Cause
I really don't care
Nor do I share ;-)


(Theme: Humour)

Poem © Aparna Chatterjee 2014

Image © Getty Images dot Com (Courtesy: Boloji)

I'm Thinking

I'm thinking
Of him
Today

How
Will he
Come?

He has
A duty to
Fulfill and
A family to
Feed

There's
No choice

Whatever
The
Weather
He has to
Come...


(This poem is about our diligent postman who delivers our letters whatever the weather and today is one such inclement weather of lashing rain and strong winds here in UK)

© Aparna Chatterjee 2014

You can read more poems here

Granted

I cried because I did not have shoes until I saw a child that did not have feet. - Oswaldo Guayasamin

Here are some more inspiring quotes for you to see and share with those for whom you care.

Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love. - Socrates

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. - Bertrand Russell

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there? - Thich Nhat Hanh

Relationships are not measured in time but in lessons learned. - Dr. Brian Weiss

The man with a toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty-stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man. - George Bernard Shaw

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves. - François de La Rochefoucauld

There is always that one person in our lives who we deeply love, and that person can also destroy us. - Ranbir Kapoor

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives. - Albert Einstein

Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults. - Socrates

You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. - M. Scott Peck

Love is what makes the cold universe warm. - William Shatner (Star Trek's Captain James T Kirk)

The shortest and surest way to live with honour in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice of them. - Socrates

Pleasures come in small packages :-) Aparna Chatterjee

Some look at things that are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were and ask why not? - George Bernard Shaw

There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love, as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. - Vincent Van Gogh

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde

I don't follow rules, I make my own. - Priyanka Chopra (Indian Actress)

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. - Stephen R. Covey

Pleasant surprises from people or places we don't expect feel all the more pleasant :-) Aparna Chatterjee

Silence is the continuation of what was not said. - Jan Oscar Hansen

I am calm, ... My surname is not a burden for me. It might be for others, but not for me. - Diego Maradona

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do. - Bob Dylan

She had lost the art of conversation but not, unfortunately, the power of speech. -  George Bernard Shaw

What is the Pain of Losing someone you deeply love, I can't really explain it but is like taking a Blazing Sword Piercing the middle of my Defenseless Heart creating an Immortal Complaining Wound, that feeds on my Happiness and Always reminding me that I lost You. - HloniM

I judge my country not by what it offers me but by how it treats our warriors when they return from wars. - Carl White

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. - Wayne Dyer

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better. - Abraham Lincoln

We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path. - Paulo Coelho

You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus. - Mark Twain

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. -  Eric Hoffer

The only proper way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones. - Jerome Hines

I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. - Vincent Van Gogh

People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up. - Ogden Nash

If the essence of my being has caused a smile to have appeared upon your face or a touch of joy within your heart.Then in living - I have made my mark. - Thomas L. Odem Jr

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce

The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson. - Tom Bodett

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. - Mark Twain

True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. - David Tyson Gentry

One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life. - Khalil Gibran

The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office. - Robert Frost

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. - Albert Einstein

Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of - Geri Weitzman

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. - Vidal Sassoon

Love is rare, life is strange, nothing lasts and people change. - Athena Orchard

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. - Alan Kay

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. - Eleanor Roosevelt

They always say the hottest love has the coldest end. - Drake

We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone. - Orson Welles

Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship. - Oscar Wilde

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows. - Plato

That's my sharing for now,

Au Revoir
APARNA

Image Courtesy: Search Quotes dot Com

You can view more Picture Quotes here

Tamasha

Woh Bulayen Toh Kya Tamasha Ho
Hum Na Jayen Toh Kya Tamasha Ho

You can read the rest of this poem here

http://www.urdupoetry.com/siddiqui12.html

Superb Poetry of a Poet who died in Penury at the young age of 46.

He was born in 1928 in Ambala and died in 1974 at Lahore.

He was Muhammad Akhtar more popularly known to us as Sagar Siddiqui or simply Sagar

You can read more about him here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saghar_Siddiqui

Here's another wonderful article on him

Saghar Siddiqui: A man, his demons and his dog

http://www.dawn.com/news/1110922

What touched me about this article is how it ended showing us how this great poet's life ended.

Here it is and I quote:

A fan of his once wrote how (in 1966) while he was driving down Lahore’s Circuit Road, the radio in his car began to play a ghazal written by Saghar.

As the fan was quietly revelling in the power of Saghar’s words, his eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of a thin man with unkempt long hair and in tattered clothes walking aimlessly on the side of the road. It was Saghar.

As the world abandoned this genius, Saghar abandoned the world.

For years he could be seen walking and sleeping on the streets of Lahore, living on the food given to him by those who took him to be a beggar or a fakir.

Amazingly, he continued to write powerful poetry in spite of the fact that he could hardly utter a single coherent sentence anymore.

At times he would write brilliant poems, read them out loudly with a vacant look in his eyes, then tear the papers he’d scribbled these poems on, make a heap and set the heap on fire.

Over the years he befriended a stray dog with whom he shared whatever food that was handed to him by the shopkeepers. The dog would follow him and sleep beside him on any street corner Saghar would choose to sleep on.

After 15 years of morphine addiction, depression and living on the streets, in early 1974 Saghar was found dead in one such street corner of Lahore. Exposed to the cold winter of the city, he passed away in his sleep. He was just 46.

The dog that was with him for more than six years never left the spot where Saghar died. Finally, one year after Saghar’s death, the dog too died — almost exactly at the same spot where Saghar did.

That's my sharing for now.

Love...
Aparna

--
The AC Daily - Please See

http://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1319026420

Today's News - Please Peruse

https://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1400751156#

One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life. -  Khalil Gibran

Somebody

Somebody has done an audio rendition of my poem Reflection

You can listen to it here :

http://www.poemhunter.com/i/poem_sounds/6/reflection-179.mp3

If the above Link doesn't work, you can scroll down this Page and try the audio box where it says "listen to this poem"

http://poemhunter.com/poem/reflection-179/

I've also added the Link to this Poetry Page.

http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Poem&PoemID=9436

I also wanted to mention in this Blog that some of my friends have reported a slight problem with my News Feeds of G+ Posts.

Hope you are also not experiencing the same. Here's how to resolve it.

When you click this Link of my G+ RSS

http://plusfeed.frosas.net/117466581567846877904

It will show you all the News Feeds of my G+ Posts

But if you happen to see some Grubby HTML ;-) Don't worry.

Just Refresh the Page (press F5) and all the news will be there in the right order.

Hope this helps :-)

Have a Happy Dussehra.

L and R,
Aparna

--
The AC Daily - Please See

http://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1319026420

Today's News - Please Peruse

https://paper.li/alwaysaparna/1400751156#

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce

Spreading

Spreading
Smiles :-)
Wherever
You go

The world
Is yours :-)
Before you
Know

(I cropped this photo from my Kochi's school banner :)







Is It Me?

Is it me
Who
Writes
On those
Sites?

Could be
Me ;-)

'Cause
Even
I don't
Know
The
Person
Who
Writes
On those
Sites ;-)

(seeing my poems on PH and Boloji and trying to know the poetess in me as it seems she's another part of me, hence reading my poems often amazes me ;-)







Realise

As the
Years
Go by
You'll
Realise
That
You
Need
Nobody
Else
Except
Yourself
To realise
Your true
Self

(Theme: Realisation)


Image + Poems © Aparna Chatterjee 2014

You can read more Poems here