My Moments of #Gratitude in April & May #MondayMusings

After the highs of dancing in the streets of Delhi in January and getting my first published articles (plural!) in Huffington Post in February, the last couple of months have had a lot to live up to if it wanted to match the start of the year.

So did it? Here are the moments that I am grateful for... moments made me smile in April & May

Winning the #WRITEINDIA contest

When the Write India contest was announced by Times of India, I found myself intrigued.

Every month for 11 consecutive ones, one of India's most popular authors would give a story prompt and the people of India had to come up with a great short story based on the guidelines the author set. The final winners would get their stories published in an anthology.

And I won. 

And the WINNER is...#TOIWriteIndia @durjoydatta @VinitaNangia pic.twitter.com/xzRJgwUmxl

— TOIbooks (@TOI_Books) April 15, 2016

Durjoy Datta's extremely creative prompt featured a unique girl with superhuman features and the guidelines he set were even more unique. And I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that story the very first time I read his paragraph. I am so glad to do a decent enough job (I always feel I can do more every time I read my old stories) that got me the win. As huge as it is to win this when competing against the entire country's immense talent, it was more personal for me.

After the highs of the past two years where I have had over a dozen stories published across almost all genres (from romance to horror and even action), I seemed to have hit a slump. My heart just was not into it... I could not focus long enough to even care to write stories. Dozens of short stories lie all over my Evernote, abandoned and incomplete. This win helped me prove to myself that I was worthy. And right now, for me, that is the big victory I need.     

A Wedding in the Family

A celebration of two hearts uniting is a win in my book. Always.

Two souls but a single thought.

Two hearts that beat as one.

- John Keats

Completing the #AtoZChallenge

This was a huge achievement for me. I usually don't do more than 4-5 blogposts a month. Committing to the #AtoZChallenge in the last moment, the only theme I knew I wanted to write on was TV Sitcoms.

Every day, excluding Sundays, I wrote one post based on the letters of the alphabet dedicated to a TV sitcom show. A lot of research and hunting, trivia seeking et al went into the final product, resulting in over 4 GB worth of pictures that were later handpicked, edited and made into over 100 usable images for the 26 articles. 

Am I happy with the end result? Honestly, yes. I think I have done a pretty good job, making the articles unique as well as entertaining and insightful, both for followers of the shows as well as people seeking out new TV shows.

You can find the whole list of articles here.

Interviewed by Bombadil Publishing

I was interviewed by Bombadil Publishing (UK) on World Books Day. That felt nice.

I would also be featured in Forbes (USA) for my opinion on the Jungle Book! Yay! 

Unexpected Twists just for going to a movie

After having booked tickets to watch Captain America:Civil War on the first day of its release (I had duty for the next two days), I almost missed it when a surprise inspection of the hospital forced us all to stay behind late. 
In the end, I made it in the nick of time for the show, driven to town in a BMW, no less! The fact that the movie was awesome made it a wonderful end to a day that had been full of stress and anxiety till then.

Stress & Satisfaction in the Workplace

• Stress and anxiety are of course, two bandits that every anaesthesiologist always meet along their journey inside the operation theater. Had a recent scare after a long time but in the end, all's well that ends well. 
• There are moments of satisfaction too. I had read online of a new safe & simple technique to relieve pain following a specific anaesthesia complication. So when the next patient came with that complaint, I tried it out on her. Lo and behold! The pain which usually takes 48 hours to properly subside disappeared in 15 minutes. We went on to try it on a few more patients, all with similar rapid recovery. Feels good to see the patient smile so quickly.  

Top Indian Blog for the 5th year running

5th year running in the Top Indian Blogs list. Yay!

Miscellanous:

• Unexpected gains in the stock market.
• Unexpected developments in both professional and personal life almost simultaneously.
• Tried making a butter garlic prawn dish for the first time. Came out pretty well.
• Binge watched a new show I absolutely loved (Grinder!) Not a single bad episode. In fact, I re-binge watched it after I finished.
• Watching Leicester win the Barclay's premier League. I am always a fan of the underdog. This will forever remain one of the greatest underdog stories of this century.

That is it for May. Nearly half the year gone. And my world has definitely changed from the first day of January. I can't wait to see how the second half of this year pans out and what surprises are in store in the coming days... 

To read more posts of gratitude from fellow bloggers across the world, click here.

The Gratitude Circle will be held on the last Thursday 

of every month giving you the chance to relive

your happiest moments and share in the joy of others.

You can find the best of this week's #MondayMusings here too