Author Archives: Shashwat Mishra

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

“As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally on all.” 
~Buddha

When this life starts feeling like a burden, when I start getting irritated without any reason, when negativity starts showing its power, when I create a negative narrative about my own worth.

Take a pause from your busy routine and give yourself the gift of silence, alone, somewhere far away. Immerse yourself in an oasis of peace, love, and light.

Plan a vacation only to practise Meditation for self realisation that peel away layers of personality to understand the true self and outside reality. And you will start healing from mental stress.

After that vacation, make it daily practice you feel better from previous situation and a sense of calmness that can be carried into daily activities, promoting harmony and happiness.

You have to choose yourself the path of your life. If you do not have faith in your own intentions and your thoughts are not clear then you will not be able to face the people with full strength and capacity.

Many times people try to dominate you so that they can gain control over you. Then they start using you according to their needs and also keep telling you about their nobility and benefits.

I did not pay any attention to such relationships because I don’t born to be a slave. Due to this, I sacrificed many close relationships because I don’t want to compromise with my dignity.

It taught me to be independent and a dream chaser, letting nothing and nobody stop me from getting what I want. Now I can take decisions with complete freedom and I don’t regret anything. And I can focus more on my targets.

To date, this has been the most profound experience which has taught me the value of taking ownership of my own life, sacrificing the good for the unknown, learning to embrace the darkness and learning to befriend fear.

Do you practice religion?

Sanatana Hindu religion developed around the Himalayan mountain range and the plains of rivers originating from there. Prayagraj is the final conjuncture place where all the rivers originating from the Garhwal Himalayan range meet. That’s why this place is called king of conjuncture(Prayagraj).

According to religious scriptures, Prayagraj is one of the four places where Amrit (nectar) fell during the war between gods and demons. The divine city Prayagraj have very strong cosmic energy during Kumbh Mela. Maha Kumbh of Prayagraj, listed by UNESCO as the largest peaceful religious congregation of pilgrims on earth.

During Kumbh Mela devotees walk miles to take a dip at ‘Sangam’, the convergence of the holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. Such a devoted crowd of people with lots of faith is not seen anywhere else in the world. Actually this is the holy land from where people see the aura of Sanatan Hindu Dharma.

The fair is visited by Hindu ascetics, saints, ash-smeared Naga Sadhus, skeleton-donning Aghoris and other pilgrims. It is expected to have a footfall of 450 million this year, nearly twice the population of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous State.

People come here with full devotion and do charity as much as possible with their capacity. If you want to understand faith, devotion, dedication, sacrifice and religion then you will not find a better place than this. Here your soul surely feels a union with that supreme soul (God).

Do you remember life before the internet?

We are the last generation who experienced life before internet. That was the time when people recognized each other and paid more attention to each other. Now everyone has power of technology and internet, no one needs that much of anyone.

Life before the internet was more difficult in some ways. You weren’t easily reachable, you’d often get lost and travel wasn’t as easy. But it was filled with rich, engaging, and meaningful activities that involved more humanitarian connection and nature.

I remember in childhood we go to teacher for study , the only source of information is books. By whatever method teacher uses to teaches us, we used to trust him and give proper respect. Now people cross-check it immediately and will take help internet to study. Means that importance of technology becomes superior than humans and humanity.

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

‘Having it all’ sound like you are satisfied with the situation you have. That’s the real meaning of happiness but who is happy for so long. Human being always want to upgrade himself that called development.

We are living in the era of technology in which world is changing every day. Wether it is mobile phone or its network, currently we are using 5G network and companies working on 6G network.

The circumstances of our life decide what we should have. When that goal is achieved, our thinking changes. After some time we are again trying to break our limits and start searching new sky of freedom.

Like you are a player, you practice every day. Your first aim is to be a part of the team in some way. And then your aim is to play national games, then world championship and then win a medal in olympics and so on. It’s very hard for me to imagine ‘having it all’.

Come friend, let’s go somewhere, somewhere far away, to some new place, close to nature, a fresh air water and land. A quiet valley between high mountains or to the noisy sea shore.

For many days it has been feeling as if I am tied in some bondage, the burden of responsibilities has been shouldered without any purpose, there seems to be some kind of fatigue as this life is some burden.

Let’s go to such a place friend where there is no work to be done, there is no hidden purpose, there is no situation of helplessness, compulsion, contracts, there is no unfinished goal standing, have no story of struggle.

Place where only you are with me, there are just light talks, jokes, sweet memories. There is such a flow of positive energy that fade away all the darkness. Where all the problems of life vanished and all the hopes remain with me.

How do you feel about cold weather?

Lots of people enjoy winter and everything that comes with it like snow, breathing in cold air, drinking hot chocolate under a warm blanket, making snow angels, ice skating, etc. I can’t feel comfortable with the weather when it gets cold. A most valid reason is life becomes slow due to dew, fog, snow etc.

Short days of winter force you to spend more time indoors. And when you can’t enjoy time outside, you can’t do your favorite activities. Sometimes roads were blocked offices and schools were closed. Somewhere your freedom restricted by this kind of wheather.

You don’t get enough natural light to feel good as compared to other season. You have to take extra weight of winter wears which also effect your usual body movements. You perceive yourself as helpless, frustrated, disappointed. This all turn affects the body’s circadian rhythms and leads to symptoms like depression, tiredness, apathy, etc.

What sacrifices have you made in life?

Some sparking decisions that I made as a young boy. I have a big list of the memorable sacrifices and choices that I made growing up, which have contributed to the person I am today. I like to take my responsibility the kind of output comes from that decision.

So I conclude it like each decision I made was important for the growth and development of myself in bringing me to where I am today. But some choices really hit me hard and some are in my favour but I surely say about my decisions that I don’t have any regrets.

Sacrificing my personal comfort in many things to save my parents money. I am single child of my parents but I was not a stubborn person who would put forward demands to my parents that they couldn’t fulfill. This taught me the value of empathy, understanding and putting myself second to those closest to me.

I consciously choose my parents before me, to ensure they could continue with as little pressure as possible. I saved my parents money, eased their financial situation. I remember a situation comes when it’s really very hard to manage basic needs of my family. I have learnt the value of money.

List your top 5 favorite fruits.

Mango 🥭: Mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and Philippines, while the mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh. A common monoembryonic cultivar is ‘Alphonso’, an important export product, considered “the king of mangoes”. I have a mango orchard in my village.

Banana🍌: The world’s largest producers of bananas in 2022 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 26% of total production. In India banana tree is part of tradition you can see it nearly every Hindu’s house.

Guava🍏: In 2022, world production of guavas was 59 million tonnes, led by India with 44% of the total. Secondary producers were Indonesia and China. In India my city Prayagraj was famous for production best quality of guavas.

Apple 🍎: The top apple-producing states in India are Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. World wide we are in 5th position in production.

Orange 🍊: In 2022, world production of oranges was 76 million tonnes, led by Brazil with 22% of the total, followed by India, China, and Mexico. Oranges are a significant fruit crop in India specially in Nagpur, Maharashtra.