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Decoding The Acronym of My Name: Writer’s Challenge

Thank you so much, Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe for inviting me to this Writer’s Challenge of playing the Name Game inspired by Toni The Talker I loved your post and wanted to do it myself!

I waited for a while to do this post, but nothing could stop me after I read Toni’s blogs on Calligraphy and fancy fonts.

Thank you Toni for sharing the secret of Jan’s rich calligraphed blogs.

I am a big fan of Jan Sebastian 🖐👩‍🦰

😶🎛 Hi Jan 💷🏎

🆁🆄🅻🅴🆂 🅵🅸🆁🆂🆃

Step 1: Let me decode the acronym of my name SUREKHA

S — Spiritual

U — Unique

R — Reflective

E — Empath

K — Kind

H — Happy

A — Avid reader

STEP 2: Q&A

1. Who does your acronym say you are? Apply the answers from Step 1.

From my childhood, I was very curious about my name, Surekha.

In my native place, Rekha was a very common name. But I never heard of anyone with the name Surekha in those days.

I was mentally upset with my mom for adding an extra ‘Su’ to accentuate my name.

Also, she made it a point to always call me ‘ Surekh aeeee ‘ in her deep authoritarian voice which I mostly detested.

She could use a pet name or something sweet!

I never liked the way my teachers or friends called my name either!

I strongly believed I deserved a better name!

But there was a silver lining to this dark cloud …

I grew up with my Grandparents and I met my mom only on vacations.

Gramps always called me ‘Kutty.’ Kutty means small child (girl).

My neighbors and other villagers who lived nearby also called me ‘’kutty ‘’.

Now I am a middle-aged woman with salt and pepper hair, my villagers still call me ‘kutty’ whenever I visited.

Some of them are even younger than me. I am still ‘kutty’ for them. Isn’t it golden enough?

Many years passed by this way. I came to live in Pune City after my graduation.

Here I found, Surekha is a common name in Maharashtra. In Marathi the word ‘Surekh’ meant beautiful.

That was some relief for me!

I became a teacher; I became a wife and mother.

I forgot how my name sounded in my ears anymore!

More than a decade ago, I met my Master in person.

He called me ‘’Surekha‘’ in his compassionate voice.

It was like waking up from a deep slumber.

That was the first time I felt my name was indeed sweet.

After that, I would insist everyone call me Surekha only.

Also, the light dawned on me that ‘Su’ means good or auspicious. Prefixing ‘Su’ to any Indian noun changes it from normal to the best and auspicious.

Well, Mom, you are the best! Knowingly or unknowingly, you gave me a beautiful name.

Friends, I digressed a little,

Let me come back to the acronym.

S- is for the spiritual person I have become.

I am not a highly religious person. I go to religious places for worship. On one of my travels, I had an opportunity to visit the Isle of Iona and the Abbey of Iona. I remember standing in front of the aisle and praying for world peace.

I try to imbibe spiritual qualities like meditation, love for nature, and peace in my day-to-day life.

U- is for my uniqueness.

We are all unique in our way. I consider myself unique and I am proud of this.

I love my me time, spending with close friends, books, music, movies, and nature.

I am traditional as well as modern in my outlook on life. Call me flexible!

R- Is for the hopeless romantic that I am.

Well, I can fall in love with almost anything!

My heart easily melts at the sight of a beautiful flower, a sweet voice, or a delicious aroma coming from someone’s kitchen.

Just anything! You name it!

I must have watched ‘’Eat, Pray, Love‘’ more than three times.

I went to Bali secretly hoping to meet some of the characters I saw in the movie.

Well, being hopelessly romantic is not all that bad! Keeps me excited about all things all the time!

E- is for the empath in me.

Empathy is not that great guys! It hurts.

Being in another person’s shoes hurts!

I feel compassion is better than empathy in this difficult world.

K- well, needless to say, I am a kind person.

This is again one of my spiritual qualities.

Of late, I have learned to be kind to myself also.

Kindness is a great human quality and we must always give the best ourselves first.

My first blog on Medium was on self-love.

H- Happiness is my birthright.

I am a happy person.

My secret sauce for happiness:

Simply remove unhappy thoughts and you are happy for no reason.

This is not very easy.

You need to be aware of the kind of thoughts entering your mind.

Clear your mind with meditation daily and soon happiness will find you!

A — Avid reader.

I am an avid reader and love to surround myself with books.

I have a small library at home. I am a hoarder of books. Books come top of my shopping list.

In my home, you will find many books spilling over onto the table and bed.

I don’t travel anywhere without stuffing books into handbags and suitcases.

Medium is the top most in my online reading.

After religiously starting my reading on Medium, I stopped purchasing online books for reading.

2. What genre(s) do you write across or your stance on writing?

I write about anything that touches my heart and compels me to write.

3. When did you start writing on Medium?

I started writing on Medium on the 5th of April 2023.

4. Where do you write from in the real world?

I write from a small corner table facing the garden at the visiting area of my home.

5. How do you write? Showcase your process.

I write in response to the thoughts and ideas that randomly form in my mind.

I also write about interesting recipes which I cook at home and reviews of books I read.

6. Why did you choose to write on/and or continue to remain on Medium?

I was a reader on Medium for many years. After subscribing to Medium I felt an urge to write.

Medium gives me the warmth of community and also inspiration from many great writers here.

STEP 3: Promote Your Presence

✔️ Submit answers to your favorite publication. 🟢 For maximum exposure my recommendation is “Illumination.” ✔️ Tag me ➕ writers you want to know more about. ✔️ Organically grow your following with an invitation to play along.

From Toni The TalkerToni’s Writer’s Challenge blog

So, friends, I am submitting my ‘Name Game ‘ post on ILLUMINATION

My favorite Publication, where I am also fortunate to work as an Editor.

Here is a special tag for a dear friend who said she loved my name

Alexia Vasiliou. Alexia sending you love and hugs.

Dear friends,

Consider yourself tagged🏷🏷️🏷️🏷️️ .

Have a beautiful day!

You can support me with a coffee 🍕