Celebrations :)

Yesss, this is my moment of glory. My first 50 followers here on this blogging platform. Never scored that much ever in cricket :)

Three years ago in Sept 2016 when I published my first blog, I had never imagined I will be writing this long.

Initially, I used to write on and off but even those on and off writings were appreciated and maybe that kept me going. The knowing that yes even if not many but at least there are some who are reading my post regularly.

I enjoyed writing and for me, this served as a way of connecting with my inner self as in meditation. Yes, writing gives me that feeling of meditation where once I start writing all my energies get streamlined in one direction, and thoughts are just poured out without much thinking.

The momentum picked up since June 2019 and the frequency of writing and publishing my blog posts increased gradually. Also reading other blogs especially those from the long term and consistent bloggers motivated me.

Reading blogs of these bloggers gave me a sense of direction and it dawned on me that if I have to be here for long I needed to be consistent. So now I try to post at least two blogs in a week.

When I looked back today after seeing this badge (50 followers) I found that I have written and published 38 posts in just 3 months. My total published post count is 76 out of which one is a reblog of a fellow blogger and one of my earlier post so that actually comes to 74 posts.

From 74 posts in about three years to 38 posts in just three months is a major leap for me and this alone is enough of a reason for me to celebrate, 50 Followers badge is like a cherry on the cake :)

I take this opportunity to thank all you amazing people across all the blogging communities and platforms who took out time to read, like and share comments on my blog posts. Your support, feedback, and suggestions and encouragement has helped me come this far.

On this note, I remember the famous lines from one of the greatest poets of our Indian film industry Majrooh Sultanpuri Sahab...

"Main Akela Hi Chala Tha

Janib-e-Manzil Magar

Log Saath Aate Gaye

Aur Caravan BantaGaya"

Humbled

Love and Gratitude

Nilesh Sharma

I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 organized by #BlogChatter as #nilesharmaawrites :)

Patience and Persistence Pays :)

I love all seasons and I have my reasons for liking them all.

Monsoon is also special in a way, not only because it brings relief from the blistering heat but also washes away the layer of dust on the tree leaves and thus magnifies the greenery all around us.

I wait all year for the show of Lightning and thunderstorms that come with monsoons. This year too I got to see this mystical magic of divine nature and also got the opportunity to capture it on my smartphone :)

After a long wait with the smartphone in my hands, I managed to capture that striking ray of light two times in the span of eleven minutes or so. The video is of more than eleven minutes but what I wanted to capture lasted for only microseconds.

Of course, all the while flashes and flickering in the skies were happening and drizzling of rain could be heard in the backdrop with whams of loud and spine chilling thunderstorms. It was such an amazing feeling that I cannot define in words.

This was last week but then as I was thinking about the whole experience it also dawned on me that as in this video which was of about eleven minutes or so, the most enticing sight lasted for just a fraction of second. More than 660 seconds of patience and persistence lead to the phenomena which came in flash will stay with me for my entire lifetime.

Isn't it the same with life. All those years of hard work with absolute focus and consistent efforts lead to achieving excellence in whatever one wishes to achieve. Stories of all the great achievers such as Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachan, Steve Jobs, Sachin Tendulkar, Sonu Nigam, Sania Mirza, Pandit Ravi Shankar and so many more excelled in their fields only because of this simple mantra. Patience and persistence with absolute focus and dedication to their craft.

To see the results of my not so long journey but even those of few minutes which will last for a lifetime, please watch the below visible youtube link:

P.S: I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyfriendAlexa Season 4 organized by #BlogChatter as #nilesharmaawrites

From My Diary- Choices I made ~ #5

In this series, I am sharing the choices I made as far as my professional life goes.

Why I took up my 1st job at the age of 17 is answered in my earlier post  "From My Diary - Choices I made ~ #1" and then why I moved on to my 2nd one and why I left that can be read here >>. "From My Diary - Choices I made ~ #2" 

My journey onto becoming Self-employed could be read here "From My Diary - The Choices I made ~ #3" and From My Diary- Choices I made ~ #4

2009 was the times of turbulence and because of the troubles at my personal front, I was finding it hard to concentrate on my work. As a financial advisor especially as a planner concentration and focus is very imperative. And this is where I was having difficulties.

No amount of talking or discussing was helping me and eventually, after trying hard overcoming it, I decided to take a sabbatical from financial planning.

I went to all my then clients and expressed my incapability of managing their portfolio at least till the time I recover from what I was going through.

Many of my clients told me that this is my biggest mistake and that it will be too late if I do not change my decision. I had an idea what I was about to lose, yet I found it to give in to something for which my heart did not allow.

Very few understood me and pledged their support and stood with me. I told them that I may not be able to advise them on any new investments but I will service whatever I have done till now. They said okay and remained with me.

Now that I was no more advising and had lost a good chunk of my clientele income needed to be compensated.

In my working with clients in financial planning, I had helped a few with buying and investing in real estate. Because of my people's skill, I had also managed to stay in touch with few brokers. After some thinking, I ventured into real estate. My work helped me see most of Thane so I had a good idea about localities and the price range for most of them.

The most important factor being there was no long term commitment. Once a deal is done very little was left to do. Slowly and steadily I learned the finer details of this new business and was doing okay. Because of good work I started getting referrals and there was no looking back :)

Even today I do real estate business but now it is very exclusive. I only take an assignment if it comes with a recommendation. I have helped my clients buy properties in as far areas as Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad.

The most cherished client of mine is Mr. Amitava Banerjee. He was referred to me by his colleague when he first time-shifted to Mumbai. I helped him find exactly what he was looking for. He liked me so much so that when he was transferred to Pune he insisted that I find property for him in Pune. I did not disappoint him even this time. Now he is again in Mumbai and this new property is again something which I helped him with :)

He has already told me that he wishes to buy a house here within the next two years and I have to help him with that too :)

Such good clients and referrals coming my way I am the most happiest person :)

My sabbatical from financial planning lasted for about 4 years. Now I am back into financial planning and all my clients who stood with me in my turbulent times are still with me and most them say we knew you would come back :)

Financial planning is your forte and you are good at it, you should have never left it. All I can say is each phase comes with its blessings. The lessons I learned passing through that phase taught me one of the most important lessons.

What was that lesson and what price I paid to learn that is something which I will share soon. Stay tuned for one more post on this series "From My Diary - Choices I made #6"

"From My Diary - Choices I made #6" I will share about various other short term jobs I did and what each of it taught me.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my story. If you have something similar experience and wish to share your story with me do write to me at "nilesharma@gmail.com" I will be happy to read and respond to it.

Happy Day :)

With this post, I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 as #nilesharmaawrites for #BlogChatter

Ever-expanding horizons

I started blogging in September 2016, and then I had no idea what to expect. But then I also live by the philosophy of doing things without expectations. And as always the rewards I reaped were beyond imagination.

My journey to blogging started with blogger (blog-spot). I used to write posts as and when I felt like and that's it. I hardly read posts from any other bloggers. This continued for a long time. Writing brought a sense of fulfillment to me and so I focussed more on it. But then as they say to be a good writer you first have to be a good reader. So I started exploring the web to find other bloggers and what they write.

It was then that I came across IndiBlogger. I found that this is where most of the bloggers upload their content. I registered my self on IndiBlogger and started submitting my posts here. My blog's viewership reached out to more people. They read my posts and shared their thoughts. This gave me the opportunity to visit their sites and read their content.

I discovered that many of them used WordPress instead of blog-spot. I created my account on WordPress and did some experimenting before I migrated from blog-spot to WordPress.
The transition was good and more rewarding. With Indiblogger I could only read Indian bloggers content but WordPress gave me exposure to the global audience :)

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As reading increased newer discoveries came along and one such was BlogChatter. BlogChatter became my platform for Book Reviews. I have written two book reviews so far and this led to the addition of one more category to my blog "Reviews".

Here is the link to the Book Reviews I have written for BlogChatter "Book Review Program"

Book Review~ Missing Presumed Dead (Kiran Manral)

Book Review~ NOBODY'S CHILD (Kanchana Banerjee)

One of my well-wishers asked if I would be interested in participating in #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 campaign. I asked what it is all about and she explained to me all about it. I enrolled for the campaign and voila am I happy :)

Source~ Google Images

Why???

In addition to the blogs I follow now I am also able to read at least 8 more new blogs about which I had no idea. So yes I am now reading much more than I used to do earlier. Making news friends sharing notes and suggestions. This community has given me so much more and is helping me learn more and know more about so many things.

My gratitude and thanks to all of you who have supported and motivated me to write more. Special thanks to all who have helped me improvise my writing skills and language and for suggesting tools to keep in check grammatical mistakes. Aesthetics of this blog site could also be enhanced only because of keen observation and constructive feedback from one fellow blogger and for this, I will ever remain grateful.

Blogging has not only helped me share my experience but has also enriched me from the collective experience of all the fellow bloggers who share their stories and work.

I intend to take my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 organized by #BlogChatter

Book Review- NOBODY'S CHILD (Kanchana Banerjee)

Give me a book and I am sorted, but when you get the opportunity to write about it that's even better.

NOBODY'S CHILD by KANCHANA BANERJEE came as part of Book Review Program from BlogChatter and I must say what a delight reading it was!!!

The book runs as a monologue from two characters "Avniel" and "Kamini" and flashes between 2016, 2018 and 2019

The main protagonist is Asavari around whom these monologues take place.

Asavari a small-town girl wins the prestigious singing contest "Indian Koel" despite all odds. Without any formal training and no one by her side to support she wins the contest.

The runner un Tanya Pratap Singh is the daughter of rich and famous Pratap Singh and Kamini Pratap Singh. Pratap is dead but Kamini takes over the reins of his business and is now carving her path into active politics. She is a woman with a dark past and has made her journey all the way up from gully's in Varanasi to being Heiress of 2000 crore business empire (left behind by her loving husband Pratap Singh).

Avniel is a small-time journalist with  Filmfare who loses his chance after an episode of drinking and misbehaving with a famous film actress in one of the parties. He now is desperate to find a story, his only salvation to make it big.

Luck comes knocking on his door as he bumps into Asavari one of the contestants who came to Mumbai for audition of "Indian Koel"

As Avniel hears Asavari sing he has but no doubt that she stands a very good chance to win the contest. He sees a story in her (a bestseller) and wants to cash it before anyone else can. With his charm and easy-going mannerism, he befriends Asavari.

Asavari wins the contest and this does not go down well with Kamini, runner up Tanya's mother. She had big plans and Asavari has just ruined everything.

But she won't sit quiet, what follows is something nobody had anticipated. With the help of Dheeraj (right-hand man of Kamini), she devises a plan to get Asavari out of her way so that her political aspirations are fulfilled.

Asavari meets with an accident month after her winning the contest and the news of her death takes the entire nation by surprise, This happened in the year 2016.

Avniel, writes a book on Asavari's life and publishes it within two months of her death. The book as he envisioned becomes a best seller and he becomes famous out of the blues.

But everything changes when Asavari suddenly reappears after two years mysteriously in 2018, with bruises all over her body and scars on her face. She was found by one of the journalists outside the Churchgate station and thus starts the mayhem.

A series of questions are raised, Avniel and Kamini are both shocked to find Asavari alive and walking out of the dead. What is it which they are hiding?

The book takes you through roller-coaster ride and you can't wait to find out what happened to Asavari in these two years. Where was she? How she survived? Who helped her? Who was behind her accident? What dark secrets lie in the closet of the past? and many more.

All and all the book will keep you hooked as the monologues progress.

The characters are very well sketched and the story moves in smooth progression with Love, deceit, trauma, emotional turmoil and hunger for power and success being the main elements of the story.

A terrific work of fiction by Kanchana Banerjee all packed in just 327 crisp pages which comes from the publication house of Harper Black (An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers) for you all to read and immerse in.

My rating for the book is good 3.5 out of 5, and I highly recommend it if you love suspense and drama. There is not a single dull moment as you flip pages and without even you knowing it the story reaches the end or is it the new beginning ;)

So what are you waiting for? Grab your copy now by clicking any one of the links below:

Buy Online here >>>> Harper Collins India or Amazon India

Learn more about the author "Kanchana Banerjee" >>>> 'Tap me'

P.S: This Book Review is part of #BlogChatter "BookReview Program" 

I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 courtesy #BlogChatter as #nilesharmaawrites

Teacher's day Special

Source~ Google Images

Today on this special day I wish to share with you all various teachers who taught me one thing or the other, and touched and transformed me to become what I am as of today.

First and foremost is without saying my Parents, who were instrumental in bringing me into this beautiful world. The value systems they passed on to us (me and my siblings) we are now passing on to ours. The love and respect towards each being is something which forms the core of their teachings.

Teachers from school and colleges had their own role to play.

The most I learned in my former years of career is from is my Boss Mr. Kailash Nath Sharma, he taught me things very invaluable which helps me even today, and helped me survive in toughest of times.

Through my childhood friend I learned the most important and the most difficult lesson that which most find difficult even today to implement and practice and that is "LET GO"

From my dearest and best friend, I learned the art of not giving in to temptations.

My ex was instrumental (indirectly though) in teaching me the importance of compartmentalization in my case keeping personal and professional life totally separate, irrespective of whatever the circumstance and challenges life throws at me.

Positive and long term benefits of the ethics and principles in business came from the insights of my ex- LIC mentor Mr. Deepak D Sawant.

The true meaning of the phrase 'Knowledge is Wealth", 'I think therefore I am", "Its never too late", "There is no age to learning" and many more was shared to me by my dear friend, guide, philosopher, mentor, Guru, Mr. Krishnan Raman Vedant. We met in 2001 for the first time and even to this very day he enriches me with his wisdom and knowledge.

These as mentioned above are some of the most important people in my life who played a very significant role in my life and shaped me into the person that I am now.

Then there are so many more with whom I crossed the path and they either learned something from me or managed to teach me a few things.

Then there are few lessons which no one can teach us but only comes from the mistakes we commit and these my friends is something worth living and cherishing all our lives.

Time as they say teaches us all that we need and being in tune with mother nature only adds to the learning. 

I think of me as a humble "Student of Life' and today by way of this post on this special day I am paying my tribute and gratitude to all who touched and shaped me in this life journey so far.

Thank you all for being a part of me and my journey.

I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa Season 4 a campaign organized by #BlogChatter as #nilesharmaawrites