Kaleidoscope is Selected in The Best of 2017 Author Websites

It's not every morning when you get up and have an email in your inbox saying ," Dhawal,

First off, a huge congratulations! We've selected Kaleidoscope as one of the top author websites of 2017! We were suggested over 1500 author blogs to review. It took awhile, but we went through them all and pulled together the final list of blogs that we felt were the highest quality and most unique. A huge congratulations! Out of the thousands of sites, you made the list!

The top 45 we selected were all so high quality that it was very difficult to rank them; every blog selected here is of extremely high quality."

A hearty Thanks to all of you lovely readers who supported me and this humble abode over internet. 

Another good news that many of you might know that I have now upgraded from itskaleidoscope.blogspot.com to a new domain DhawalJoshi.in and added a few more things like subscription options to blog which will update you whenever I push a mind-tickling post here. Nothing's much changed on your side apart from new address name to type in the bar and a nice little internet post-man sending you blog updates in your email inbox.

See the Results of Top Author Websites here : https://commaful.com/play/2017/top-author-websites-of-2017/

You can check their website here : http://thewriterawards.com/

Are you ashamed of yourself?

Heyo! By the title you might have guessed what this time I am gonna write about. But you know the trend on this blog. I am not gonna give you any motivational super-boring lecture but rather a fun and mind tickling read.

Coming to the topic, are you actually ashamed of yourself? I have been within this writing community for a long time now. I made a few very weird observations here on perspectives that people are having. Basically I am going to relate a few things with writing community here as my main message is for them but this also applies to others.

Why are you ashamed of yourself?

We being Indians have seen a lot of people around faking accents. To me, nothing annoys me more than a person who is faking something just because he is ashamed of his own self. We Indians specifically have this tendency to always feel low of our selves because of our English that we received as an hereditary package from British. But as time passed, we have developed our own touch with English.

Most people shame it by calling it as 'Mother toungue Illness' by classifying it as illness. Let me tell you, It's not Illness. This is a very peculiar thing that is going on in our literature community especially. There are people who think we still are going somewhere wrong with our language. They think Literature is something that should be on level of Shakespeare else its rubbish. But they forgot the most important aspect of Literature here i.e. Language. Language changes with people, with time. I have seen many users classifying them as #GrammarNazis online. But then I laugh as grammar is something with also made by people. Grammar changes with language.

Most of you won't know fun fact about the famous lines that we always use online.

Roses are Red, Violets are blue, ...... blah blah

Well I know most logical nazis will say that violets are violet and not blue. Is that person colour blind? But when this thing was framed, the colour violet wasn't recognised. It was more like a shade of blue. Hence violets are blue here.

I have seen people classifying books as shit and rubbish online, surprisingly they're best selling ones. I know at times marketing nuisances make actual shits famous but well that doesn't apply to all books or art pieces you think. You don't like a thing that doesn't equate to shit always.

Apart from all these things, I personally despise people who despise our own Indian way of English. Even software have Indian English options these days, c'mon we are  in 21st century. India is 2nd largest populated democracy. If you ignored a thing here, language is made for people by people.

Time changes a lot of things and we need to adapt to it. I have a few friends who think Victorian Era literature is only thing that we can call as books rest other is shit. My friend I am sorry to say your head is filled with shit. I have never said that thing before ever on my blog posts, but this time I needed to say this.

I know this Indian Author, until she got published herself, when someone asked her about what did she read and why? Her answers used to be, I don't read Indian authors, because they write shit. and after her own anthology got published the opinion changed to, I discovered that not all Indian Authors write shit. You know How many times I have facepalmed on this thing?

I know there's a term popular for these people which you might already have guessed it in your heads and I won't write it down. Samajhdaar ko Ishara Kafi hota hai.(A Hint is good enough for the Wise )

Even more ridiculed I am right now because every wannabe I meet across this community turns out to be same ideology beholder. The issue isn't when they keep these ideologies with them, Issue is when they make actions based on these ideologies. They demotivate people, here good writers. I have discovered many really good writers during my Wattpad Journey. I may not have written many things myself but I have read a lot. I don't judge others usually but this was something I had in my mind for very long. How shallow minded can anyone be?

Only thing I would like to tell such people, If you aren't happy with things around you, don't demotivate others.That's the minimum you can do to help yourself and people around you. Secondly I really Hate, if someone says Indian Authors Don't know English or write shit. You my friend should better get off somewhere else because this place isn't for you.

Apart from that, I want to end this with a positive note. Remember the story of the Ugly Duckling,for those who don't know, it's a classic children's tale that you can google up. You will come across a many people in your life. Most haters will disguise themselves as critics, but trust me, a critique will try to improve your skill by giving a solution. If their opinion isn't providing any solution they aren't a critique, its just a hater. Mean comments and haters are like black spot on a white board. No matter how white the board will be, our focus will be somehow on that black spot. I'd say everyone is unique, people wait for something unique always. You can't eat pasta and burger with same flavour all your life. The same way you can't follow cliched old trends all your life. With time you need to adapt, you need to change and most importantly you need to grow. Because nature doesn't wait for anyone and it only makes the best survive.
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Lets Talk About Motivation #thinking Wisely

Recently I was talking to one of my friends on my humble writing abode aka Wattpad. So While chit-chatting here and there she shared one YouTube Channel link. It had a 16yr old reciting some poems with loads of emotions and stuff which discussed issues of people around. She is a sucker for motivational things and especially TEDTalks.

Many times she shares a lot of motivational stuff she feels is good enough for me, and me being regular savage puts it down. Well, I ain't rude on a purpose or someone who thinks high of himself. I just think in a very practical manner.

Think of it, you and me every time we are online scrolling across screens and websites, walking down the lanes or having a discussion in group.There comes a topic where almost everyone has something to talk about. Everyone has a point that they think should be considered. But if you just push aside the haze of that smoke gathering around you and burst your bubble you'll find something that might amaze your mind.

Think of it, with the population we have around and most have access to the internet. What if everyone starts a YouTube channel, or a blog or something where they just crib and cry about some issue without even finding solutions for it? Is that gonna help solving any issue? I don't think so, then there comes people with different sorts of made up views, they thinking cribbing and crying about any issue will spread awareness.

No my friend that doesn't do a thing. It rather just creates clouds of hatred, gossips, negativity. You are actually farming negativity over that portal of yours which was supposedly to be helpful.

You know what someone does when they actually wanna help?

They get their asses off into the battlefield and get straight to work

The simplest inspiration I can give you is from our soldiers. They know a lot of things before they sign up for the armed forces. They know there's terrorism, its bad. They know there are lot of discrepancies around still they join the forces to do what? TO HELP! that's your cue here.

If you feel you can motivate someone, you can get someone from bad to good or can bring a significant change in the people around you. Begin at your own stage. You might be a school going kid, you might be a teen, or a millennial or a retired person. Its upto you, how to go about and bring a change.

All talking never helps, its very easy to sit and comment and chat about issues. But very difficult to go down there in field and change it.

If talking was the thing that could help then there won't be scientists, doctors or engineers around to solve the daily issues and bring out the inventions to get rid of them. There would be just a bunch of cry babies who would cry and crib around and get problems solved on their own.

If you want to bring a change be a doer and not a talker. 

If you think what can you do now apart from sharing those cribbing articles, then my friend there's a lot that you can do. Just have a look at the opportunities around you. Calm down, think practically and reasonably you'll find a lot of things where you can improve yourself and then you'd be proud of the change that you've brought in.

Do lemme know your thoughts on this article, this is something that is been put up on a special request. Apart from that, I have made a emailing list which will save you the hassle of checking on the blog randomly or missing on the blog posts.

If you like this little kaleidoscope of mine where I put up random little thoughts and mind tickling posts, do Subscribe to the blog : https://goo.gl/Sqkf5S 

Which smartphone should you buy #2017 ?

Well if you're thinking that I am going to review some ton of smartphones and then direct you to some particular brands (paid/not paid) then my friend you are on the wrong side of the internet. With this all round media hype with new smartphones and new tech bumping in every few months. Reviewers are going bonkers with the amount of smartphones they are reviewing each month.

Well in this point i'd rather mention a few points that might open up your brain to new areas and might help you in buying the device that will be best for you instead of some random reviewer comparing ton load of smartphones and suggesting you pixel 2 or iPhone X as the best phone and then when you glance at your budget and I will be able to see that frown on your face.

Reviewers often get review units. Well this is quite argue-able point as many reviewers get and many don't but most of your famous reviewers which you keep a track of get review units. Which they area allowed to keep for a while till there's the hype about the phone and then return when their review is done or the hype dies. At times they are often allowed to keep them like gifts.

As I said many would argue with me on above point, some reviewers also order the devices for
their personal usages and also if that device isn't available in their own regions. Which probably if you do after watching your favourite YouTuber or Blogger buying the device then you end up paying custom fees which most of the times people aren't aware of or might end up getting scammed from some random 3rd party website shipping those devices to your region.

As these days market is changing and new tech coming every day the device you bought at for example 20 bucks might be available at just 10bucks after half a year or maybe its just too  old to be sold.

The technology is upgrading itself rapidly especially in the world of smartphones. So what to do when you wanna buy a phone and also keep up with the latest tech if you are a tech lover like me. Answer is very simple. Get yourself a budget or maybe a mid-ranger device if you still wanna spend more.

As I said tech especially in the smartphone world is upgrading at a rate that after a year or two your flagship might be comparable to mid-ranger or worst case a budget device. You might think that you invest so much into a flagship and it didn't outshine a few years.

Invest in a top-of the line budget device or a decent midranger device. In this way even if you change your device every 2 year or so, which undoubtedly most of the people do these days due to various reasons. You can spend less every time and still stay with the best tech which might be available in the market.

For those who still are stuck upon thinking that they'd always opt for the most costliest device, dude you are all good to go.  But don't buy it with an intention that a it'll be top of the line and best till 3/4 years you are intending it to keep.

For some people who might be thinking about the E-waste situation here, I am not promoting it by any means. People already are doing that  without saying every year. So instead of buying a new, either get it exchanged with website/store you might be buying that device with so you might get a discount as well or you can pass on the device to some member of the family who might require it. You never know with the 2017 era mobiles have grown more importance for everything.

So what do you think about this?? I'd love to read your thoughts comment em down below. See ya later next time.

The Chaotic Calm #thinkwisely 3

Ever been into a mode where there is chaos all around you but your mind is somehow in state of calm. You don't know the reason but you just feel like everything is going around you in slow motion. You can calmly just see each and every detail and work perfectly fine without that chaos affecting you at all even the slightest. Your senses sort of are numbed and you can feel everything but just a tiny gist of it. What would you call that state of mind?

If you think I am gonna go all into preacher mode for you than nah! my friend you are at the wrong place. Well I was thinking about a few things lately which brought these thoughts into my mind. We always talk about being patient, being calm even in most chaotic times and pressure moments and then train for them via various exercises, some learn through them while some don't. Some need time and experiences to get acquainted with that chaos and then slowly their minds adapt to that pressure and instability around the environment surrounding them leading them to a state where all of these doesn't affect them anymore.

I feel this ability to feel the calmness even in the biggest of chaos is not less than any super power. These professionals are not less than any saints who had done their years long meditation. Ever realised how calm any solider can be in midst of a full engaged battle, a firefighter in a burning place rescuing people, a doctor in midst of an super imp surgery, a pilot flying the aircraft right through a storm, an engineer handling servers just with his finger tips, a president or leader of nation, a chef who's cooking for you, or an artist creating his next masterpiece?

I feel these are a few examples of the real life super heroes that we have around here. This doesn't mean I am saying other professions are not worthy, rather I am just presenting an example that we have a lot of super heroes around us who are working for us daily. All of them are blessed with this ability of staying calm even in the midst of a chaos.

Ever imagined this super ability that you already had in yourself and you still were looking around searching for some superheroes or super powers to become one but you my friend yourself were a super hero in own sense?

Why Ebooks aren't trending in India #thinkwisely 2

I published an Ebook via amazon and enrolled it for kdp select (which you can check via clicking here ) I was all happy and set for being a published author. Personally me being an ebook lover I hardly bought any paperbacks apart from my syllabus books  as Ebooks had their own fair share of advantages out weighing paper-backs by loads. Hence, with all those thoughts in my mind I opted for Ebook only as paperback needed investment (which me being a broke student couldn't afford :P ) Now many of will ask why I didn't  ask my parents for money? Well I wanted to do it on my own. I didn't wanted to invest loads on first into it and as said before I had 0 interest in paperbacks.

So coming back to point, well just like every other kindle author I began to search for tips to market the books well. How to pitch to your reader share of market and loads of other tips, but then I realised a super huge fact. Teenagers who comprise of most readers and a majority in this market. Well they don't have access to a basic thing which is needed for online shopping (especially in case of ebooks) i.e. credit/debit cards. For buying paperbacks its a whole different scenario as they can use the option of COD or just  head into a bookstore and get its copy if its a well known book/author. But for ebooks only option left is either online payment or kindle membership.

Now most wont opt for the kindle membership and ones who do merely comprise of 2-3% rest all still go via other options. Now imagine you asking your parent for credit/debit card to get that cheap little ebook (romance novel case) . Or you being a parent where your teenager kid is asking for your card to shop online.

I know many won't still be getting the issue here so lemme explain. The thing is Cards be it Debit/Credit, anything related to banks is a pretty serious matter in India, and Indian parents tend to keep either kids away till they are of certain age or monitor it regularly, at time even after that kid has their own kids.

So for a kid imagine going to your mom/dad and asking them for their card to get a new novel of your famous romance and chicklit authors or even sci fi or fantasy and then that awkwardness when they fire their faqs at you.

Now my dear friend if you still don't find any issue here then you need to read that again or you aren't familiar with Indian culture. I don't know if anyone has ever thought of this, be it amazon itself or authors who are publishing ebooks there. If not then start thinking and I'll return with more of such mind-tickling topics.

For those who are curious about My book, its here. Click on image and find our more ;)

Dushera Special - Thinking Wisely #1

hey!

well from quite a long time I was thinking to start a new category of posts which will be following around the main theme of my blog i.e. viewing the world with different vision. So, Here I am with a new series where I'll be posting about things that we actually miss out, things that we never paid such close attention to even after being it an integral part of our lives.

We know about the Ramayan, we know the story where Ravan kidnaps Sita and Ram goes to rescue her. It's been like hard-coded into our mind that Ravan is bad, Ram is good. But ever took a moment to think back closely and relate to the story. I am not into any 'This is right, that is wrong perceptions' or debates but just wanna bring out the fact that how blindly we just jump onto conclusions without even thinking about it again, that is that really a thing or just a hoax fed into our brains just as thing without even a proper reason which passes from one generation to another?

If you anyhow might have read more deeply about the characters of the Ramayan, you'd definitely awe at the personality of Ravan. Just because of his one mistake, one wrong decision all his other deeds are covered up as bad.

For several of you who don't know yet, Ravan was one of the most intelligent personas of his time. He was not only the scholar in regular subjects but also was a veena maestro. He was an efficient and extremely skillful administrator for his kingdom, A fierce warrior and a smart thinker as well.



He was a deep enthusiast of Arts and other Scholarly interests. According to myths its said that He is represented with 10 heads because he had so much of knowledge that it couldn't fit in one head, that resulted in representing him with 10 heads, as we see now.

In Sri Lanka there are temples where Ravan is a deity and people pray for their well being and prosperity, isn't it a fun fact? We just blindly hate anything/anyone most of times because that information is just fed into our brains. We never actually took a few minutes out of our lives and thought about it.

Ravan was just an example of the fact about several things that are just fed into our brains as kids as we grow up. Not saying that everything told to us is wrong but to be very honest and frank, most of the things need to update themselves with the time. We need to broaden our perspectives and look at the things in much better manner with open minds.

As I usually say,

Nothing's right and Nothing's wrong, its all about the perceptions that we have.

I hope you enjoy reading this and upcoming posts in this series. If you enjoy reading it then follow me on socials for keeping up with the posts else can subscribe to the blog via email. Don't forget to comment down your thoughts below.