Author: drjha4

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Lessons Of Hope and Beauty In Displacement!

The story I am about to tell begins with one’s worst fears coming to fruition. The nightmares you think are sealed into the realms of the dreaming world when abruptly leak into the waking moments can leave you tensed, torn and terrified. Summer of 2021, when the world was trying to recover from the tragedy of the pandemic, the Universe was getting ready to jolt me out of my comfort zone. My mortal fears have always been made of the inability to choose and control the events in my life! I am a person who is dreadfully resistant to the idea of change. And I mean any change. A new couch that I thought would go well with the décor when actually placed in the living room can make me ruefully question my life decisions.

The change that was staring me in the eye this time was colossal! Circumstances were leading to the inevitable reality of giving up my London apartment, one that I pieced together bit by bit. One that was my constant and one I hoped to keep even when everything else would change. But this was not to be. And just like that, my home became Flat 8!

The following months after I packed away my home was challenging, one that was filled with grieving, anger and, at times lack of spiritual connection that I had never felt before. Everything seemed like a test that would eventually lead to another massive failure. How does one explain grieving, especially if it’s not a dear one that you are mourning but a way of life and space that was sacred? With a bruised ego and a broken heart, I decided to move away from the UK. Perhaps new meanings of home or hope lay elsewhere. The process of healing, like tragedies, has a way of finding you without warning. Edmonton, Alberta, was like a breath of fresh air.

It’s been a few months in my new surroundings. I am not settled, far from it. I am unsure where I might land next, who or what I will call home, and what twisted tales of love and longing await me. But I do know that my journey so far has taught me to find beauty and hope in uncertainty. (Find more on my Instagram Page! https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlRfQ1JF-08dCZxTHvZC7HFj4JFSoPdaj1gIw0/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D and https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChlVs5rpWug/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

Someone like me, who rigidly prefers to stay on track and cannot fathom the idea of a detour while travelling to Canada via Paris, decided to make the most of a six-hour layover. I still have to pinch myself over it!

I knew something had to shift inside of me to breathe again. So, there I was, throwing caution to the wind, standing next to the Eiffel Tower, gleefully reminding myself that the choices of the living must remain in living and preferably in the present.

There could be myriad ways my story could have ended. One that began with displacement could have ended in me pirouetting around my fractured heart, engulfed in self-pity. Instead, my story ends with hope. No matter where I land, I must never give up on Hope because Hope is the thing with feathers bound to carry you to beauty and beyond!

References: Emily Dickinson, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314

Nâzim Hikmet, https://poets.org/poem/living

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Principles Of Good Storytelling!

Storytelling dates back thousands of years when it adhered to visual and oral traditions using myriad ways to communicate them, including drawings, songs, chants and poetry. The evolution of storytelling remains fascinating because, as human beings, we continue to find novel ways of communicating and sharing our experiences through stories that can capture our imagination and make us feel connected.

So, while the new mediums challenge storytellers to adapt to novel ways of communicating and presenting stories, the principles around good storytelling have remained steadfastly resilient.

So, what principles continue to help create great stories that we deeply resonate with and remember? Read on to know more!

1. Stories That Have A Universal Appeal

The stories that offer universality through their characters and respective experiences instantly result in the most profound connections between the audience and the storyteller. According to Pixar Director Pete Docter, the relatable and identifiable stories also evoke emotions and remain with the audience, adding to their longevity.

2. Stories That Have A Clear Structure & Purpose

An appealing story must be able to draw its reader into its well-crafted world. For that to occur, it must be able to use the Story Spine and adhere to the guidelines of good storytelling, including the following: 

1. The Beginning 

2. The Event 

3. The Middle 

4. The Climax 

5. The End  

3. The 4Qs That Can Help Create Good Stories!

Good stories don’t just happen! Storytellers must cultivate the practice of self-awareness and honesty as part of the process. Before telling a story, answering these allows a storyteller clarity and purpose behind their work, often leading to memorable creations. 

Ask yourself – 

Why must you tell this story?

What’s the burning belief within you that your story feeds off of? 

What greater purpose does this story serve?

What does this story teach?

4. Good Stories Have A Heart!

Good stories connect to the eyes of the brain but, more crucially, connect to the eyes of the heart! Principles of good storytelling, especially in the digital age, serve as a vital reminder. With more innovative platforms and mediums and their ever-growing tools, which certainly play a role in enhancing the audience’s experience, a good story, in the end, remains simple and one that speaks to the heart of its audience. 

Conclusion

So, if you want to be able to tell incredible stories, follow these principles. Put yourself through the process, practice your craft and with perseverance, you will have your perfect story!

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The Pinch That Cost Boris Johnson His Premiership! 

As a former political journalist watching the events turn out the way they did this summer in British politics has been nothing short of engaging and exciting.

The perfect recipe of a scandal remains intact in its ingredients – sex, lies, and cover-ups. The fall of Boris Johnson, who took office only three years ago after successfully organizing a coup against the then Prime Minister, Theresa May, has been a cringe-worthy affair. This will always be the story of a man who tainted the land’s highest office while he was in charge and was equally disgraceful as he exited it. The list of scandals and his denials were a match made in hell. The shambolic display of events eventually caught up with this jocular self-serving PM. Here’s how it all unfolded. 

Using Snippet Storytelling Principles 

The elements of my story consist of the Setting, Character, Plot, Conflict and Arc, hence using the storytelling principles to craft better tweets but focusing on Twitter moments while deciding the topic and ways to make it engaging. 

The Setting

The story revolves around Westminster Politics, and the downfall of yet another Tory Prime Minister marred with scandals and cover-ups. A summer of scandals indeed! 

Character

At the forefront of it is the disgraced PM, Boris Johnson, who reeks of lies and deceit as soon as he opens his mouth. Not too far away is his Cabinet Ministers, who have defended him for far too long. Finally, the British Public are as much a part of this nasty business where they continue to be lied to and cheated upon simply because this PM will not stop lying. 

Plot 

One after another, the series of scandals tainted the pillars of this Tory government – Partygate and Pincher was the top of the list where the Prime Minister lied to the British public and misled the Parliament. 

Conflict 

The internal investigation of the Partygate scandal led by Senior Civil Servant Sue Gray revealed multiple gatherings, wine, vomiting and fights in the parties held in No 10. 

“The report also reveals that a leaving do at No 10 on 17 June that year included “pizza and prosecco” and a karaoke machine. During this event – which went on until 03:00 – one person was sick, and there was a “minor altercation” between two others.“

While the British public followed the rules and stayed indoors, at the cost of being unable to be by the side of their dying loved ones in care homes and hospitals while not being able to attend funerals, those who made the rules thought themselves to be above those same set of rules. 

It might have appeared that Boris johnson had survived Partygate by the skin of his teeth. When came the Pincher saga where it was the case of –Pincher by name, Pincher by nature! Serving the fatal blow to Johnson’s Premiership.

Arc 

My story has a clear beginning, middle and end. 

The End 

Once the lies caught up and it was found out that the PM indeed was made aware of the sexual misconduct allegations brought against Chris Pincher even before he was appointed as the Deputy Chief Whip of the Tory Party, it was time for his backbenchers to draw blood. The Cabinet resignations sparked by Sajid Javed, the Health Secretary and Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Ex Chequer, forced the herd to leave Johnson’s side. 

With almost 50 resignations, the PM was now hanging by a thread! 

Twitter Moments

The chosen topic is an ongoing tale of British politics, hence relevant and timely. The political news story presented through snippet storytelling uses images, videos, hashtags and news links to inform and entertain the audience to evoke a reaction and improve discoverability. 

My Twitter story also adheres to the different types of moments as laid out in the Twitter Moments. It’s a commentary on a current story that uses humour and satire to reach a broader audience that does not consider itself political. You don’t have to like Boris the bonkers. You only have to say aww to Larry, the cat! 

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Interpreter Of Maladies: A journey beyond mind, body and moral!

Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/fSip7oCn9fSBM31e9

Interpreter Of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of nine short stories that won the Pulitzer Prize, the Pen/Hemingway Award and the New Yorker’s Debut Book of the Year in 2000. 

Lahiri tells the story of several characters as they try to find their place in the world. The book begins with a collection of short stories interconnected by their shared theme: what it means to be an immigrant or an outsider in America. In each story, a character feels like they do not belong—either because they have moved from another country to America or were born here but don’t quite fit in with those around them. Cultural displacement and the pathos of human loneliness cuts across the nine stories where the characters are continuously grappling with their identity.

I remember reading this book as a young girl, ready to leave home to pursue higher studies at Delhi University. What resonated with me was the universality of her characters and their struggle to find new meanings of familiarity and what they would eventually call or understand as ‘home.’ 

Appealing and Connecting

Structure

Lahiri employs the elements of the Story Spine much too cleverly. Although it is a collection of short stories, it places the nine stories in an order that adheres to the guidelines of good storytelling, including:

1. The Beginning 

2. The Event 

3. The Middle 

4. The Climax 

5. The End  

A perfect marriage of themes and language

Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/8k5VoWqeUFjHDCEH6

One of the many strengths that Lahiri displays, along with the relatability and humanness of her characters, is the simplicity and clarity of her writing that makes for an instant connection between her characters and the readers. The characters that populate Lahiri’s world live in the tense duality of being exiles but are proud to have left India to build a prosperous life in the West. However, the central theme that emerges through colourful details of Indian tradition, cuisine and celebrations are that of the universal struggle of adapting to the ways of a foreign homeland without losing one’s original roots. Their pain and angst intertwine with that of the reader, making it an intensely personal experience. 

So whether it’s the married couple who rediscover each other after living together for years in the same house due to a power cut or the story which chronicles an affair between an aimless young American girl and a married Indian man – the stories probe into hope, pain, guilt, desire, dreams and temptation where Lahiri moves beyond a specific cultural identity, and plot to capture human elements, hence connecting to the very heart of its readers. 

Lahiri’s Women

Finally, the women in Lahiri’s stories bring to mind other immigrant writers such as Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston and Zora Neale Hurston. They all offer reactions against their culture’s view of gender roles, combining quiet strength with courage and rebellion.

There’s a story for everyone! 

Interpreter of Maladies is both beautifully melancholic and seemingly uplifting in a cathartic way. The amalgamation of intense nostalgia coupled with the mundane quality of its characters’ everyday life makes this a story that has travelled well and beyond into the hearts of many around the globe. She is a master storyteller who knows when to pull in her audience for that personal experience, almost as if she is offering front-row seats with a promise of a special peek just for you. 

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