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VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF VALUES (VIVA) - An experimental newsletter

 “Man is to become divine, realising the divine more and more from day to day in an endless progress.” Swami Vivekananda (How to: Design with the logo and basically make it look attractive) Looking Inwards (What spirituality means to us) What is the real meaning of spirituality? Is it ghosts and spirits and paranormal phenomena? Is it the search for God, the Soul, or the ultimate Truth behind our existence? Is it opposed to religion or is it its deepest kernel? Is it a buzzword to be quickly adopted and equally quickly abandoned, when the going gets tough? To us, spirituality can be a way of life and religion can offer a path for the seeker. Book reading or listening to satsanghs alone won’t do; we need to choose a lofty ideal and adhere consistently to a set of values we carefully choose, to reach that ideal. This will pave the way, step by step, to our true nature – Sat, Chit, Ananda – our spiritual destination. It appears that most of our contributors this month agree with the idea-
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एक दिन गुज़रते हुए.......  काली सडकों पे भिखरी  पतछड़ की निशानी  फूल पत्तों से सजी  कुदरत की कालीन पास में बहती हुई गंदी नाली और  बधबू फेकती हुई गंध पे  नाचती हुई मखियों के  पार एक आँगन में उगती हुई  एक लाल फूलों से भरा पेड़  और अंधेरों से ढके घर  पे नन्ही मुन्नी की मोतियों  से चमकती सुन्दर आँखें और  वहीं उसी मोहल्ले में  हांथो में सजाते अरमानों की  लाल रंग से खिलते लष्मी के सपने  और उसके बराबर के मोड़  पे नीले दरवाज़ों वाला घर  में मास्टरनी और उनकी सहेली  की तूफानी बातें और गरजती हंसी  की कहीं ज़ोर एक हवा के झोकें   से छोटी रानी भौंकने लगी और  बेवजह हँसते हुए बच्चों के  टोली के पीछे दौड़ लगायी की  साथ साथ नीम के पेड़ पे  सुस्ता रही सारी चिड़ियाँ फुर्र से  पेड़ से चहकती हुई हवा के  पीछे पीछे उड़ गयी.......... 
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We grow together move                         a  p  a  r  t. So many roads in our criss                    --                          crossing           L W       R       D           O  You took one  to get lost.  I find you in another gladdening of the heart.    
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Rejection Letter

Received a (sweet) rejection letter from APM, towards the anthology proposed to be published. Here it is. Dear Arpita, We are writing to you with bad news :( Unfortunately, your poems have not been selected to feature in the Ultimate APM Anthology. In total, we received 2,000+ poems from 550+ poets, and had to select only the top 50 poems from among them. But we want you to know that your poem almost, almost made it. We absolutely loved your poem, "My Plant", and it made the final shortlist for the anthology.  Unfortunately, it just missed out :( Since your poem was so well-written, it's even harder to send you this email. Which is why we wanted to say this to you: We write poetry as well, and we've been rejected by magazines and anthologies numerous times (more than we'd like to admit!) And every time we get another rejection, it feels like the world is telling us that our poetry is not good enough, but guess what? We still write.
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Week #40 Prompt 'Your favourite word is the title of your poem' There really was no favorite word I could think of really. This was written in the last moment, just so I didn't lose a week. Blessing Have an extraordinary life days of sun, clean air,  breezy nights journeying into misty mornings, a love of long walks, the one beside, but never on a run from – situations, yourself. meaningful talks, lots to share, always helping or a way to discovering what’s divine, work that takes you deep into the night and through the breadth of the day, leanings on and dealings with answerable people with the right answers the ones that keep their homes clean, lots of art to fill vacant spaces, above all music, sometimes slow and melodic and of course, poetry. Prompt #41 'Emptiness Sounds Like' (received a special shout-out for this one, along with a few other poets) 1. Emptiness sounds like  words spoken with negligent concern, saying the change in sight  is part of n
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Prompt #28 - A poem in less than 50 words titled "What is the Weight of the Word" क़ैद  उमीदों की हाराकीरी से  रंग हैं इस रिश्ते में, शाम को बोतल खुलते ही  लफ्ज़ उछलते हैं, कहर से।  फिर भी नफ़रत, तुम से नहीं,  उस बोतल से हैं, जो तुम्हारे हरकत बदलते हैं।  खुद को भुलाने की आदत, ज़रुरत से, ज़हन बन गया है, की खुद को ढूंढने जाऊँ तो, वही लफ्ज़ घेर कर, क़ैद  कर लेते हैं। _________________________________________________________ Prompt #29 Prompt - The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place It is 1984, as predicted they Are coming Breaking into our lives, our bodies, our souls.  Hurry! Our mature whispers of youth, remember? In the dim light of the lamp I loved, over that despicable glaring tube. I am looking for an escape. I run into mountains that open into deep vales Lying in the bed beneath a billion  cavalier stars I hear the gurgle of the gentle river And the cold water soothing my soul  lulling me to sleep. As, I ever so gently rise up, up and up And I was creating poetry for the m
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