A Year on Platform Extraordinaire!

Congratulations, ye’ all! It has been a year since we started writing on os.me. And what a year it has been! 

It started with a vision to be a place for truthfulness and kindness. Soon, the mind-blowing os.me Karma Program that pays members to write posts and even comments, was rolled out. It has made all of us paid writers — a dream many want to achieve. It’s a repository of magnificent ideas, useful life hacks, and a supportive chronicler of our lives and our deepest thoughts. Despite seeing phenomenal growth, it has stayed a fitting testament to the power of kindness and truthfulness.

Last year, when Swamiji declared his playground open for all, we had 60 unique write-ups in May. Aditya Shahi wrote the first-ever member post. Cut to May 2021, we have 940 posts! In this past year, we have grown leaps and bounds. Many of our members even got book deals, some got six-figure ‘Support’ from the community members.

Did you imagine it becoming this vibrant tribe it is today? For a decade, our founder, Swamiji, built this platform bit by bit. Then one day, he gave it to us, just like that. He didn’t need to. Yet he did, only to put “hope in our hearts” and enrich our lives. He obviously knew he was giving us a powerful tool. 

None of us saw how powerfully it was going to impact our lives and the world. The lockdown became survivable because of the Karma Program. In isolation, we found a compassionate community in each other. In sickness, our wounds healed through words. In sadness, we found smiles through encouraging comments. In joy, we laughed together. In hopelessness, we found an anchor in Swamiji’s wisdom. It’s our cheerful place. 

Our awesome journey calls for celebration. (As an aside, have you noticed, if you say osme loudly, it sounds like awesome). We would have had a party, perhaps, if it weren’t for the pandemic that tested our courage. Let’s continue to celebrate hope and its promise of possibilities in the face of adversities through our work. 

This week, I bring to you posts that give courage and conviction for everyday life. 

Wisdom from Swamiji

5 Principles of Happiness: Happiness is a butterfly. Swamiji shares the secret to help you attract it. For a life of bliss and joy, only these five things matter.

Why do Your Plans Fail?: No matter how fascinating your dream, how great your plan, you must be in touch with reality if you want to succeed. Swamiji helps identify reasons that sabotage plans and also offers ways to make them work.

Transformational Experiences 

Oh No! Electric Cars: Trust John Clark to draw out wisdom from incidents that a common eye might dismiss. He goes out shopping for an electric car. Meets a dog named Oh No. In a matter of a few minutes, there is blood, violence and death. Perhaps the seed of this incident was planted many moons ago. The universe is always listening. It works towards manifesting our thoughts for us, even the negative ones. One must choose one’s thoughts carefully. This article will help you understand the gravity of your words and thoughts. 

The Auto Rickshaw Proposal: Divya Vanshika was watching a film with her husband and kids. A romantic film. Gen Z turned the gaze towards their parents and asked them all about how their father proposed to their mother. This lovely anecdote from years ago is all mush and has the driver cheering on. It also underscores the contrast between men and women, they are probably from different planets, esp in their idea of love, generation notwithstanding. 

Interstices: In this semi-autobiographical piece, Riya Raj bares her heart for you to see the invisible wound left behind by abuse, trauma and mental illness. A writer pens this powerful piece. I am sure it will help many heal. A warm hug to you, Riya.  

Embracing Vulnerability: “If you mess up it will be your doomsday,” said the teacher to Samarth Khanna when he was still a school student. He took up the gauntlet to memorise a speech overnight. The inevitable happened. He forgot it. But that was far from his doomsday. Samarth, an articulate writer of osdotme, makes a case for vulnerability. He lists down reasons which will surely motivate you to be courageous in small acts of everyday life.

The Easy-Chair Thought Process: Diligence knows no age. Last year, Mrs Venkatesh decided to teach the Narayaneeyam to an eclectic group consisting CEOs, Harvard professor, school students, et al. She already has two batches gaining immensely from the blessings of the Narayaneeyam discourse. In the age of armchair activism, Sundaram Venkatesh’s slice of life piece conceived on an easy chair, makes for a delightful read. Maybe we can book a class with the popular teacher, and later join the group on the temple darshan, since we have Sundaram’s word that he will accompany the group for protection.

Here’s How Music Changes Your Mind: Learning to play an instrument can set off fireworks in the brain and mind. It leads to better brain cognition, refined concentrative abilities and so on. But most importantly, it brings happiness. Nandita Basu strongly propounds the idea that music is a life skill and can even help battle depression. She draws upon her own experience. 

The Sparrow and The Ocean: I loved reading this story. A sparrow lays eggs on the shore of the ocean. The waves carry those away. The sparrow requests the ocean to return the eggs or else she will drink the ocean dry. The mighty ocean ignores the tiny sparrow. The courageous one starts picking out water with her beak. Her impossible determination gets ridiculed by all, until one day. Sarang Om’s retelling of this story he read in a book will surely fire up your determination, conviction and performance. Where there is a will, the ocean submits. 

The Power of the Mind: Jagadananda Das conveys the interpretation of Vedic thoughts through his various articles on osdotme. In this piece, Jagadananda expounds the Bhagavad Gita’s Chapter 6, Verse 5. “The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well”, liberate yourself from the bondages. 

Dear readers, I assure you, this place will always remain your home where you can be yourself sans any judgement.

To ensure you continue to write engaging pieces, here’re some resources:

• Write an engaging headline in title case (capitalise words except for minor words unless they are the first or last) or use the Title Case Tool
• Tagline is where you highlight the key idea or summarise it in a line
• Use British spellings (that’s the style guide we use for uniformity)
• Read the text twice before posting
• When using commas, insert those next to the word and give a space afterwards (For example, this is correct; For example , this isn’t). 
• Likewise, when using quotation marks, put those next to the words without space. I say, “This is how you do it, don’t forget to notice the commas and full stop placement.”
• Italicize words for emphasis. One exclamation mark is enough to convey surprise, really!
• Always use an engaging picture to go with your piece. 
• Use copyright-free photos to stay out of legal trouble. Websites like Unsplash and pexels.com offer a great copyright-free variety. 
• Posts with a personal tone get more readers. Write a compelling personal experience or learning and see how readers connect to it. 
• More helpful suggestions here.

I remain committed to making this a phenomenal platform with your outstanding contribution. On our journey, we added features and offerings. Going forward, we will continue to make meaningful introductions to give you a sublime experience. Let’s make this year even better.

Once again, congratulations to you. What are some moments that stood out for you? Were there any posts that helped you? I loved Komal’s heartfelt piece about our journey. Share your favourites with me in the comments. 

Until next…

PS: It would be lovely to mail my letter to you, right in your inbox, so subscribe and never miss out on a great idea or an update.