STORY BETWEEN THE TRUTH AND LIE A JOURNEY

KALYAN SRINIVAS RAYGALLA

Copyright © Kalyan Srinivas Raygalla All Rights Reserved. This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

TO MY FAMILY

Contents Foreword

vii

Preface

ix

Acknowledgements

xi

Author

xiii

Volume One 1. Aged Or Child; Similarities I See.

3

2. Love, Or Friendship?

5

3. A Journey Of A Soul.

7

4. Life Cycle

9

5. I Am Who I Am; Let Me Live.

13

6. Cry; It Is Gender-free.

15

7. Travel- On The Road? Maybe In The Mind.

17

8. End Of Journey- Death; Eternal Peace.

19

9. Nature And Us.

21

10. Festival Of Lights? Oh Yes, Diwali.

24

11. I Never Said!

26

12. Death Is Not Always A Solution.

28

13. Time; Precious? Living Is.

30

14. Let's Talk About Money.

33

15. Yellow, Orange, White, Or Pink? Colours!

35

16. Story Of The Day And A Young Lad.

37

17. Spark In The Eyes.

40

18. It Felt Heavenly.

42

19. Amma, Ammi, Mumma- My Lifeline.

44

v

Contents 20. Lock-down.

46

21. I Don't Feel Like Talking With 'her'.

48

22. When Life Speaks To You.

50

23. Power Of Intent

52

24. Sunday Or Monday?

55

25. I Realised, I Understood.

57

26. Blissfulness Of Being Alone.

59

27. Atlast I Spoke, And .....

61

28. Christmas- Merry Christmas.

63

29. Kung Fu Panda Inside The Class.

65

30. Love A Girl? Or Maybe A Boy.

68

31. I Miss You.

70

32. Because I'm Happy.

72

33. Are We Friends?

74

34. Anniversary Gift- Mom And Dad.

76

35. Battle Of Honor And Pride.

79

vi

Foreword

As a teacher of Mass Communication for the Post Graduates, you have an experience of teaching and mentoring students who are passionate about their varied interests which they dream of pursuing. Kalyan Raygalla has been one such student of mine who has shown interest in art, culture, and social activism. He has been this person who takes initiatives; and he does that uniquely and creatively- which inspires his colleagues. Kalyan has always been a story-teller who has conducted workshops for media students proposing to them creative ways of reaching out to readers and the audience for effective and impactful communication. In this book- Story Between the Truth and Lie, the author has allowed himself to drift away into the various facets of lifegiving the reader an experience of his writing (which is still at a nascent stage I must say) taking them into a world of truth, innocence, laughter, celebrations, life, death, youth, old-age, feminism, culture and most importantly a journey through life. While writing this, Kalyan has been going through a tough emotional conflict due to some untoward incidents which happened in his profession caused by jealousy and intolerance. Being a motivational speaker and a TED speaker as well, he’s put in all the advice and inspirations he’s shared with the audience into this book (probably trying to motivate himself and making his effort to emerge out of this darkness).

vii

FOREWORD

I was asked to write this foreword for his book and he asked me to be critical about his work. But I would say that instead of being critical I would choose to admire the initiative and confidence in this young man thereby raising the bar for his next set of work.

Dr. Amutha M, Academician | Freelancer | Researcher.

viii

Preface

This book is a collection of experiences in the form of poems, short stories, and articles which throw light on the journey between truth and lie. These poems were written in different timelines and cities. I draw inspiration from what I go through in day-to-day life. Nature keeps inspiring me, and so are the people around. I am Kalyan Srinivas Raygalla, an entrepreneur. I started writing while I was 18. Writing a book was never in the plan, I use to write short poems about the people I met, or places I went to; and sharing those with them used to make them feel happy. This is how my journey of writing started. I worked as a journalist and that allowed me to meet a lot of people and have endless conversations. Story searching is what I use to do back then. Later I moved into academia as a teacher and became an Assistant Professor. This was a major turning point in my life. I had the opportunity to make an impression on young minds like mine. Having conversations with them about various topics is also a reason why you will find the poems on different things. In this book, you will find a reflection of yourself at all points. You read any poem, it will either make you nostalgic or will drown you in memories and thoughts. This book also gives you a scope to understand how small things make a major difference in life. We tend to not pay attention to small things in life. They turn out to be the most memorable things later. We can’t go back in time but had we paid attention to it, it would have become a wonderful memory.

ix

PREFACE

While writing this book I was going through a tough emotional conflict due to some untoward incidents which happened in my profession caused by jealousy and intolerance. I invested all my emotions, feelings, and thoughts in this book. You will feel like a child, you will laugh, you will cry, and most importantly you will connect to your inner self with this book.

x

Acknowledgements First I would like to thank my parents for not giving up on me and for constantly supporting me. I’d also like to thank the many people who have helped me learn the art of writing. Additionally, my special thanks to Dr. Amutha M, my professor, for helping me with reviewing the book and writing a foreword. I could not have done this without your guidance and feedback. An additional thanks to Dr. R. S. Praveen Kumar, IPS, Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, retd IAS, Ms. Girija, Mrs. Althea Cole, Mrs. Lavanya, Mrs Grance Stanley, Mrs. Suparna Naresh, Mr. Naresh Rao, Mrs. Atiya Nusrat, Mrs. Rekha Rao, Mr. K. Parthipan for constantly inspiring me to achieve my fullest potential. I also thank every other person who inspired me and pushed my limits. I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Ms. Yashaswini Tanna, Ms. Druthi Madduri, Mr. Ajmal Irshad, Mr. Serendeep, Mr. Piyush Jha, Mr. Karthik Thakur for their constant reviews, guidance, and corrections. A special thanks to my dear brother Mr. Ganesh Raygalla for supporting me and for giving me constructive criticism at all points, which indeed helped me reflect and strive to get better at everything. It wouldn’t have been easy without the willingness and the blessings of the almighty. I would also like to thank, Notion Press Publishers without whose support, this dream wouldn’t have come true.

xi

Author

KALYAN SRINIVAS RAYGALLA Educator | TED Speaker | Recreational Therapist +91- 8790- 81- 3376 www.raygalla.com

xiii

Volume One