Valient Die but Once

Posted on by Sumita Tah

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger

If you don’t stand for yourself,
No-one else will.
If you don’t speak for yourself,
Your voice will be stilled.

Life is one for everyone;
You’ll never live a moment twice.
Listen only to your heart,
Your heart’s call should suffice.

Traditions, customs, society;
Should stay outside your space.
Those dubious norms by others,
Shouldn’t tie you with their lace.

Don’t let them bind you up,
And pin you to the ground.
Don’t be a puppet in other’s hands,
Or in misery you’ll be drowned.

Don’t bow down to others threats,
But hold your head up high.
God will provide wind to your wings
And help you reach the sky.

The world worships only the brave,
And choke cowards to death.
It is our actions which decides,
Our destiny and our fate.

Kindle your minds with fortitude,
Don’t leave life to chance.
Don’t live life on other’s terms;
For we live life but once.

Writing Tip: Dashes and Hyphens

Posted on by Sumita Tah

dancing leaves

Dashes and Hyphens

Hyphens and dashes, specifically en-dashes and em-dashes, have specific functions. They are not interchangeable, and it is helpful to learn to use them correctly.

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Hyphens (-)

A hyphen connects two words that are closely related and function together as a single concept. It makes compound words clearer and easier to read and helps remove confusion if the two words could have a different meaning if not linked with a hyphen.

Examples:

  • That’s a high-rise building.
  • She wore a low-cut dress.
  • Read this real-estate article.
  • He made a toll-free call.
  • It has thirty-three pages.
  • That’s my great-grandfather.

In general, compound words are typically hyphenated before a noun, but not after a noun.

Examples:

  • It’s a part-time job. / The job is part time.
  • That is a free-standing pole. / That pole is free standing.
  • It was a barbed-wire fence. / The fence was barbed wire.

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En-dashes…

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Friends, Philosophers and Guides

Posted on by Sumita Tah

Friends stand by you,
Through thick and thin;
Giving you solace,
Nursing your mind,
Till it gets enough strength;
To heal and recover itself .

Books too are true friends,
The ones you can turn towards;
For comfort, entertainment,
knowledge and advice.
They will never fail,
To uplift your spirits,
When you get your blues.

Turn to a good book,
E-book or a paperback;
It does not matter,
Which one you choose.
What really matters,
Are the words that flow.
Be wise in your choice.

For it is rightly said-
A person is judged,
By the company he keeps.

WORDS PERTAINING TO RELIGION

Posted on by Sumita Tah

Apocrypha – Collection of fourteen ancient books of Old Testament, excluded by non Hellenistic Jews from their canon.
Apocalypse – The book of revelation of St. John recorded in the New Testament.
Apocalyptic number -The number 666 mentioned in the Apocalypse as the number of the beast.
Avesta – Holy book containing collection of religious text of Zoroastrianism. It is written in Avestan language and consists of teachings of Zarathustra.
Baha`i – A comparatively new religion which believes that God can be known through the lives and teachings of great prophets the most recent of whom was Baha’ullah in the 19th century. They believe that each prophet was a further stage in revelation of God.
Bhagavad Gita – A 700 verse scripture which is a part of the longest epic ‘The Mahabharata’. It consists of the teachings of Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield.
Buddhism – Religion based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (the enlightened one). The Four Noble truths and the Eight Fold path paves the way to liberate oneself from suffering and attain ‘Nirvana’ (freedom from rebirth).
The Bible – The holy book for Christians containing teachings of God and Jesus Christ. It is a collection of religious texts sacred in Christianity and Judaism.
Catholic – A follower of the Universal Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is transmitted through the succession of Popes.
Canticles -A scriptural hymn song forming a regular part of the church service.
The Decalogue – The Ten Commandments
The Dhammapada – is a collection of teachings of Gautama Buddha in verse. The original version version is Khuddaka Nikaya
Guru Granth Sahib – Adi Granth– The central religious holy scripture of Sikhism it is considered as the final sovereign guru of the Sikhs. Before his death Guru Govind Singh declared that there would not be any more human gurus and Guru Granth Sahib would be the final guru.
The Golden Rule – “ Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Matthew 7:12
Jainism – Religion based on the teachings of Vardamana Mahavir. The supreme principle is “Ahimsa” or non violence. The three principles of Jainism – Right Belief, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct.
The Kojiki (Shinto) – It is the oldest Japanese religious text divided into three parts – The Kamitsumaki (upper volume), The Nakatsumaki (middle volume) and The Shimotsumaki (lower volume).
The Major Prophets – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah
Pentateuch – The first five books of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, called ‘Torah’ by the Jews. It includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Protestant – A form of Christianity the originated in 16th Century after reformation and separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
Quran -The central religious text of Islam consisting of the teachings of Prophet Mohammad. It is organised in 114 chapters.
Shia – The branch of Islam who believe that Ali was chosen by God to be the successor of Prophet Muhammad.
Sufi – A branch of Islam which focuses on purification of soul and spiritual closeness with God.
Sunni – It is the largest branch of Islam who accept Prophet Muhammad as the final prophet.
Tripitaka – Which means ‘Three Baskets’ are Buddhist scriptures. This is also known as Pali or Buddhist Canon in English. It consists of the Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka and the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The Tao Teh Ching – Chinese classic text by sage Laozi. It is a treatise on how to live life with integrity. The four principles of Daoism or Taoism teaches – Simplicity , patience, compassion: Going with the flow: Letting go and Harmony.
Zoroastrianism – Religion preached by Zarathustra or Zororaster. They worship God Ahura Mazda and worship in fire temple (Agiaries).

Teaching Poetry: A Step by Step Guide

Posted on by Sumita Tah

codexterous

Ok: first of all an admission. The title of this post, with its impossibly bold claim to distil teaching poetry into a series of neatly packaged steps, is somewhat overzealous. In a manner somewhat, and unfavourably, all too familiar to the last year, I fear it will overpromise and underdeliver.

However, what it will do, hopefully, is offer up a kind of template, a broad horizon of possibilities, that will seek to capture and condense what a typical poetry lesson for me might look like. Of course, within this template any individual lesson may vary, dependent on class or poem, but it should indicate a certain sweep of what a poetry lesson may look like.

So let’s imagine the following scenario: the students have the lesson’s poem in front of them. They haven’t yet read the poem and have no prior knowledge of it. What could happen next?

Step 1:…

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You’re Invincible

Posted on by Sumita Tah
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

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Think bright and aim high,

Envision to reach the sky.

Put in your best in what you do,

It’s inconsequential you compete with who.

Success comes to those who try,

Not to those who complain and cry.

So spare no effort, and say with pride;

‘I’ll take the world in my stride.’

Fun facts about William Shakespeare — Creabealounge

Posted on by Sumita Tah

William Shakespeare has always intrigued me to start studying English literature, and to become a writer myself, in a sense. Moreover, his adaptation of words usage is certainly very interesting, yet sophisticated in its own way. So, for today’s post, I thought that it’d be fun to share some fun facts about this man! His […]

Fun facts about William Shakespeare — Creabealounge

Revival of The Righteous

Posted on by Sumita Tah

Let us fight the evil in us,
Let us fight the evil outside;
The world we’ll leave behind,
Should be worthy of our pride.

Evil like weeds grow fast,
And spreads far and wide.
To stop the weed of evil,
The good must always contrive.

Good things take time unlike evil;
To grow, spread and thrive.
We are the hands of God,
And must keep goodness alive.

Evil has more strength than good,
But grows when we fail to strive.
To nip it in the bud while we can,
For it mushrooms if it’s kept alive.

It’s our world and our duty,
To fight evil and help goodness revive,
It’s the complacency of the good,
That helps the evil survive.

Let the days of misdeeds end,
Let the days of goodness arrive.
Let us fight the evil in us,
Let us fight the evil outside.

How to Read a Novel Like a Lit Major

Posted on by Sumita Tah

Pages and Papers

If you’ve ever analysed a novel in school, you probably know that reading a novel for analysis is different from reading a novel for pleasure. Especially as a literature student, you quickly have to get used to the fact that reading a novel isn’t the same as reading a novel well. The latter requires much more time and practice.

When analyzing a work of fiction, you should consider the following three steps:

1. First Reading: Comprehension

Read the full novel without dwelling for too long on single passages. Pay attention to things you notice about the text (e.g. reoccurring themes and motifs). Most importantly, block out distractions while you’re reading. If you want to understand the full meaning of a novel, you need to give your full attention to it.

It’s also helpful to write down a short summary of the main events of each chapter or part once you finish…

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