Midnight Contemplation SADITSA PANDA

Copyright © 2022 Saditsa Panda All rights reserved. ISBN: 979-8-4271-5006-4

For my parents and my country.

The human heart is the only thing who’s worth increases the more it is broken. -Shakeib Orgunwall

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” -Stephen King

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It's time, to look into the mirror and accept yourself. To see everything you've been fighting for, peace of mind, and everything your heart deserves. They say that writing is a lonely profession; it’s not going to get you anywhere. That’s an absolute lie. Even I used to have fallen for this misconception, long ago. Never acknowledged my ability, or rather you can say that it was a huge struggle to start believing in myself. Yet, I got past all my fears and realized that writing a book serves a much greater purpose. And here I am writing an acknowledgment for this book on which I have been working for over a year. I remember the day; I had written my first ever poem when I was 10 years old. I had written about the quarrel between two dogs on our street. That was a real-time discovery for my parents. That memory is still fresh in my mind, their happy faces. So first of all, I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary debt I owe to my parents, a duo of supremely positive individuals to set forth this encouragement inside me. I'm especially grateful to my mother, a combination of beauty and brains, who assisted and advised me through every aspect of my life. Starting from her critical feedback to her support in all my ventures, it wouldn't have been possible without her. To my parents, I would say: I am tremendously blessed to have both of you as my guide -and to have you as my parents. Thank you for believing in me.

To my family: thank you for the unconditional love and support for these long years. I want to mention that I do not think I'd even be here today if not for the people of Delhi Public School, Kalinga, where I spent most of the formative and flamboyant years of my life. Thank you for granting me a vision and the opportunity to stand out among the crowd. My eternal gratitude to Prateek: a special thanks to you filled with lots of love. Considering the way our lives peculiarly wove together even before we ever set our eyes on each other, I have a high time believing it was fate. My heart has been yours from the moment we started our first conversation from "Hello Dell!". Even after being a movie and chill person, not fond of reading, you have read every part of my writing. Thank you so much for your invaluable and brilliant comments, rendering me to give my best in every piece. Thanks for holding my hand. I don't know, what I would have done without your presence or our little jokes. Thus, I'm pretty sure, you and I, it was written in the stars man! Thank you for your warmth and companionship, to grant me the will to pursue my dreams. I am indebted for your constant love, admiration, wit, and support, and for always having my back. I'm so happy that we have gotten to share such an insane journey. I consider myself the luckiest woman to have someone like you. Thanks for proving to me that true love exists. I love you forever and ever and ever. And last but by no means least, my friends, especially those who have understood my intentions: thank you for your enthusiasm. Getting to know you all has been such a pleasure indeed. This book is a portion of my life, employing the comparative method, from personal experiences to understand friendships, relationships, times of triumph, and loss, and the challenges one has to face along the way. This heartwarming composition of poems and lessons will inspire you to pursue your dreams, and be fearless in your search for your happiness.

We all are broken, but "broken" is a kind of beauty itself.

Midnight Contemplation

Perfection comes to existence when we embrace those imperfections. Imperfection is the new perfection.