Prasanta Behera Blog

Barren trees awaiting the spring transitioning between old and new Rain and cold testing the spirit. Sitting near fireplace struggling what to read in this cold lonely evening. Flipping thru a book, I see the red leaf awakens the forgotten memory Like lightning, mind starts  to illuminate what was forgotten. Why did she gave me the red leaf? Lost thoughts spring forward looking for answers in the labyrinth of possibilities but none makes sense. Night turns to day what was lost before remains unanswered now. The universe works in mysterious ways when you truly seek it. While strolling in the park one evening I saw her again, sitting on a bench alone full of jest with the unforgettable smile same deep blue eyes. Mind and heart struggle between emotion and reasoning With enough strength, I approached her questions that has haunted me for a long time. Why did she give me the red leaf? She sighs for a moment, closed her eyes recollecting the the past....

Growing up, history was taught the most boring way. The teacher asked us to read standing up while he dozed off. We had to memorize dates and events but we never went beyond to understand the story behind it. So, history became a slightly boring and not so important for science students. That's the worst understanding I ever had. I started reading about American history from my uncle's library when I came to US. He had a a very good library on wide array of subjects. Recently he and I were discussing, why at certain points in time so many great people come about, it may be during American independence or Indian independence. What conditions create it?  It is fascinating to think about it. I have read few books here and there about American Independence but didn't really picked up until late 90's. My interest started to grow along with my daughter's school projects (perhaps like many of you). The independence of America is like no other. It is jus...

I started reading one of the most famous Haiku poet Basho's " The Narrow road to the Deep North ". It's amazing to read about his trips and places he visits in 17th century. In has written haiku poems throughout his journey. The power of his observation of small things are beautiful. Here are few haiku(s) from the book which I liked. Breaking the silence Of the ancient pond A frog jumps into water -  A deep resonance Determined to fall A weather exposed skeleton I cannot help the sore wind Blowing through my heart A thicket of summer grass Is all that remains Of the dreams and ambitions Of ancient warriors So, I decided to give and try and wrote some Haiku style poems. Here is my first attempt. It does not follow the pure 17 syllable traditional haiku style. The above three haiku(s) have 22, 24 and 23 syllables and follows the 4 lines style which I liked and tried to follow the same format. --------------------------------------- Caged birds f...

We all have read Steven Covey's books and articles. There are many other books by eminent authors such as Dale Carnegie. I have read few of them and then after few months ... forget about it.  Recently I came across this video . It talks about the 7 effective habits in an animated way. I picked 4 habits that I think I want to focus on and start paying attention . I decided to put this in the blog so that I can go back and read it again when I need it. Easy to find (no excuse now!).  Habit #1 tells us to focus on what you can control - be proactive to the situation. We can curse the government, talk about the good old days .. but those does not change the current reality.  Be proactive to the current situation and adapt to it. There are lots of issues in the world, hunger, environment, and many painful like Syrian crisis,  sexual assault in college .... what one should do? You have no control to any of these. Some of the issues are horrific and if you think too...