Things That Define Me

       The one thing I find toughest is to write the 'About Me' section. Let it be writing an introduction in a social media site, or setting up my profile in a new site, or introducing myself in a group or writing the 'About Me' section of my blog; I always find it hard. I would be happy to say 'Hi! I am Swathi Shenoy' and end it with that but I can hardly do that. Introductions are meant to let people know more about you and such introductions would have been easier if there were only few things that define me; few things to let people know who I really am. But that is surely not the case. Let me tell you why!

      I am a writer. I pour my heart out through writing. When I fail to express my feelings out loud, writing comes to my rescue. When there are things I cannot share with anyone, they take the form of stories. People read it as fiction but many of them are inspired by the things happening around me. When something good or bad happens, I have to write about it, else I cannot sleep peacefully! I am an introvert and writing is my Knight in Shining Armour!

       With writing comes, the interest in reading. And I am not immune to this. I am an avid reader. My day isn't complete if I don't read at least a few pages of a novel. Reading helps me live a different life in a different world altogether. How can I not love it? Here is a sneak peak of my library:

       I am a singer. It was my mom's dream to be a singer but she couldn't achieve it (Oh, she has a very sweet voice). So, I was sent to music classes since the age of six and I have always enjoyed it immensely. Music is the magic that can soothe your mind like nothing else can. I count it as a blessing to have been trained in this field.

       I love dancing too. Though I always wanted to join a dance classes, I never got a chance to. That didn't stop me from learning. I am a self trained dancer and a good one at that. I never missed an opportunity to step on the stage.

       I am an artist. I love sketching and painting. People who are regular to this blog know that. What started as just a small hobby to pass time, soon turned into a passion and before I knew, I was in love with it. Capturing the beauty of the world through my pencils or paint brush is something that I love a lot. Though I am a little slow at it, the satisfaction I get when the art work is complete, makes it worthwhile.

 

       It's not just the sketching and painting, I love crafts, stitching and Quilling too. I always keep looking for something new to make; painting on tiles, pots, glass, making something from ice cream sticks... anything. Whenever I see something interesting at my friends' or relatives' home, I bug them till they tell me how to do it.

 

       I am a cook too. I love experimenting new things. Internet is my teacher and I always keep trying new things. Oh, I promise you they are all edible. My friends and family love them, so I trust my experiments are good.

 

       I love sports too. I learnt Swimming, Volleyball, Chess and Karate when I was in school. I used to find it difficult to make time for everything but that never stopped me. They say 'When you want something, there will be no excuses. You will always make time for something you love' and I can't agree more to this. It has always been like that for me.

       Oh, I am a student too, currently pursuing Engineering in Computer Science but that's not all. I am an enthusiastic student in the journey of life, always eager to learn new things. My varying interests and the things I keep learning are a result of this enthusiasm.

       Does it end here? Not at all!! There are many more things that define me - I am a dreamer, a friend, a daughter, a sister, an enthusiastic traveler, a perfectionist and much more. But how can I explain all this when someone asks my introduction in brief? I fumble and stammer to get the right words. To say all these makes me feel like I am showing off. But trust me, that is not the case. It is who I am. Take out even a single thing out of the list and the introduction is incomplete. 

       I still remember an incident from my interview. The hardest thing for me was preparing my resume. I had tried to keep the 'interests' and 'achievements' column as short as possible. Still, during the H.R. round, I was asked "How is that you do all these? How will you manage your time?" I just smiled and said "It is because I love what I do" There, that is the answer. I love each and every thing of these activities and they as a whole, define who I am. But it is difficult to make everyone understand. 

       So, whenever someone asks about me, I just smile and say "A girl with lots of dreams" Now, doesn't that  sounds simple enough for the first time? So, ladies and gentlemen, that's Swathi Shenoy for you.

PS: This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus.

Also linking this to the Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge.

Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)

Love,
Swathi :)

The Power of Trying - Bits and Bytes #2

       From childhood till now, I have never took up anything seriously. I pick a hobby randomly and practice it until I either achieve something or till I fail, the latter being the majority! Once I fail, I used to give up completely, never trying to do it again. I never believed in the power of trying. I was reckless and it showed in the work I did. But there was an incident that changed my view.

       I used to go for summer camps every year and once I had been to drawing class, probably in class 5. I thoroughly enjoyed sketching. It came to me naturally and I used to bring home beautiful sketches (well as beautiful as a class 5 student could!) and my mother used to beam with pride. My sir used to praise me and I used to bask in it completely.

       Everything was fine until I was made to hold a brush and try my hand at painting. You would think I aced in it as well but no; I was terrible at it! I used to spoil every sketch as soon as I tried to paint on it. This went on and I was growing frustrated increasingly! One day I was scolded by my sir for not paying attention and that was it. I had stopped going to classes! I know it was very stupid but I hadn't understood it then! At that time, I dropped out of the camp and no matter of convincing could make me go back.

       I had completely given up sketching until class 11 where I had to draw in my Biology record. Interest grew once again and I kept on drawing even in my spare time. I joined for the same drawing class once again and started honing my skills. It felt heavenly, to do something I loved so dearly. "It's time you learn painting. Colors speak so much more than these grey sketches" said my sir. I denied till I could but finally had to give in. It was difficult and as expected, my paintings turned bad. "Try" he used to say every time my face fell.

        There was one painting I loved very much, something I had seen a girl do. I wanted to try it but I knew I couldn't do it. Sir saw the dream in my eyes and he gave me the painting and said "You have 4 days until next class. You can try if you want to. You never know what you can do until you try!" I took it home and I don't know how many papers I tore until I finally managed to do it. Here is how it turned out at last.

       It's pretty good isn't it? No, I am not boasting. You will understand it yourself if you see my first try of the same. Here it is

       That is how I learnt that giving up was easy but it did no good. If I had tried this hard all those years back, I would have probably learnt a lot by now. Well, I guess its better late than never. So next time you encounter a failure, just remember, it indeed is a small step in the way of success and as they say "Keep on trying until you succeed" :)

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)

V for Victorious!!

       This is my 50th blog post and just like the emotion for today, I feel victorious too :) Here goes my half century post :)
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       When she heard the applause, she realized that the endless waking hours and the hard work had finally paid off.

       It hadn't been easy to manage everything at once; there were just 24 hours a day for her as it was for everyone else.

       She had faced failures at many points but passion and dedication to achieve something had always driven her to pursue her dreams amidst all.

       Now she stood there victorious, beaming as she received the reward for her painting, a hobby she had put her heart into.

       "Just a small vacation to treat myself, then I would get back to practice again" she thought.

(The story is fiction but the painting is mine ;) I did it few days back for a competition)

PS: Linking this post to the Five Sentence Fiction, A-Z Challenge and Ultimate Blog Challenge April 2014.

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)

WALK THROUGH THE GREENERY

          Nature is God's greatest gift to mankind. Sometimes just a walk through the greenery is enough to uplift your mood and refresh your soul.

         A painting I made some time ago. This painting does hold a special paint in my heart as its the first ever acrylic painting I did :) Would like to know your opinion about it :)

Until the next post,
Keep Smiling :)

Love,
Swathi :)

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

         If ever asked, "What is your name?", what would you say? The answer would be simple, isn't it? There is no need to think much. But there is a catch. There was a competition conducted in our college, where we had to describe our name without actually saying it! Interesting right? How would you have done it? 

       Here is how I did it :)

   A painting with a nice caption to make it easier to guess my name :)  

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)