Great Storytelling Network Newsletter – 11 January 2017

Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter for this year. Rohi and I are working on a few new things which we’ll tell you about later. Meanwhile, he shares information about a resource that is a must for writers. I share stories about a cobra and Ladoo (which, incidentally, was the inaugural story for a new column on pets in the newspapers).

Most exciting is that we have a new column called ‘Knowledge of Life’. The stories for this column will be excerpts from a new book I co-wrote about Ayurveda published by local publishers. The first piece in today’s newsletter explains some of the basics. From the next edition onwards, I will tell stories of actual patients that were treated and benefitted from this ancient medical system.

Happy storytelling.
Aneeta Sundararaj

• Storytelling for Sales: Learn effective storytelling techniques to succeed in your next sales meeting

IT was 10 minutes past four and I was sitting on the top step of the staircase in the corridor. I didn’t know whether my tears were because I was relieved, exhausted, sad or all of them. I couldn’t cry inside my flat. When a few tears did flow the night before, Ladoo, with her grossly distended abdomen, clumsily rose from her bed and waddled over to comfort me. I yearned to pick her up when she put her paw on my knee. But I couldn’t because I was afraid of putting pressure on her chest which might cause her to gag.

For the last five months, Ladoo was unwell. The most terrifying moment was on Jan 11, 2013. She woke me up at 5am and demanded I take her downstairs. After she evacuated her bowels, she couldn’t move. When I picked her up, I saw something I’d never seen in the eyes of my normally reckless dog ­— fear. The question was clear: “What’s happening to me? I’m scared.”

When she could see that I was equally frightened, she began to panic. Her tongue hung out, her gums became pale and she started to fade away. I hugged her close and started to pray. When we arrived home, I lay her down on a towel and used a syringe, without the needle, to force 100Plus down her throat. That gave her some energy and I repeated this regularly until we saw the veterinarian.

To read more, please click here.

To enter our house, there is a door, of course. But like most houses in Malaysia, we also have a grille. So, to let someone in, I would have to unlock the door, pull it open then slide the grille to the left. All this information is important because of the story I’m about to tell you.

One day in 1977, I was a very small child. My mother was recuperating from surgery upstairs and my father had come home after work. It was about 8.30 pm. As usual, I unlocked the door and pulled it open. I heard the hiss first, before I registered what I saw. In that space between the door and the grille was a cobra. Already agitated, it had its hood open and was swaying, ready to strike.

I screamed and banged the door shut. I don’t remember what happened next, but I am aware that my father killed the cobra. I remain terribly upset by the memory of this. That, in itself, caused the family to be agitated and worry for the next few days. First of all, Hindus are not particularly fond of killing snakes. Frankly, even though I’m petrified of them, I don’t like that they are killed unnecessarily. Secondly, there is a belief that when you kill a cobra, in particular, its mate will come looking for it. True enough….

To read more, please click here.

‘Ayurveda has hit on something deep in nature. Its knowledge is rooted not in technology but in wisdom, which I would define as a reliable understanding of the human organism gathered over many centuries.’
Deepak Chopra

The word ‘Ayurveda’ can be broken into ‘Ayur’ and ‘Veda’. ‘Ayur’ (which means ‘Life’) is the constant amalgamation and union of body, sense organs, mind and self. ‘Veda’ means ‘Knowledge’. Together, Ayurveda means ‘Knowledge of Life and Longevity’.

The basic principles of Ayurveda trace their roots to the core of Indian philosophy and highlight a noble concept: that man is the microcosm of the macrocosm that is the universe. Man and the entire universe are composed of the same basic elements. There is in man as much diversity as is present in the external universe. Visualising the ‘self’ in the entire universe and the entire universe in the ‘self’ represents the most evolved state of man.

We believe that Ayurveda is eternal; it is in constant flow and has no beginning or end because it is in consonance with Nature’s Law. The theory is that man must have used measures and medicines to promote his health and cure his illnesses. Based on his experiences, he developed an understanding of the causative effects of his illness, how they manifested, prognosis and treatment methods. This information was passed down the generations and, in time, rules were framed to treat a particular ailment. It was eventually distilled into two different schools of thought: Bharadwaja (which focuses primarily on treatment options using medication) and Dhanwanthari (which focuses on surgical methods).

From these two schools of thought – Bharadwaja and Dhanwanthari – eight different disciplines of Ayurveda were developed and cover all areas of medicine. Students of Ayurveda rely on various medical texts to hone their knowledge. These texts are, in essence, Charaka Samhita, Susrutha Samhita and Ashtanga Sangraha….

To read more please click here.

“I don’t charge extra for typos. They’re just my gift to you.” ~ Michael Port

One of the biggest problems we freelance writers face is the difficulty in revising and checking our own work. Even if we have the luxury of reading our work with fresh eyes after putting it away for a day or two, we can’t be absolutely sure that our work is free from all errors.

Some of us may have writer-friends who can read our work and point out errors, but that may not be feasible all the time. They may be busy or on vacation. And they are also likely to miss a mistake or two.

What we need is a reliable tool that is accessible 24×7 and can check out work fast. What we need is Grammarly.

[Editor’s Note: Rohi has shared the report generated by Grammarly for this article. Click here to download it.]

Grammarly Editor is an online writing application that helps you to finds and corrects mistakes in your text with a single click. It ensures that everything you type is effective, easy to read, and error-free. There is no need to download any software. All you need is Internet access and a (free) Grammarly account.

Grammarly checks your text against more than 250 grammar rules including common errors such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, word choice and style mistakes in your writing. It also provides synonym suggestions to make your writing more precise and readable.

Most important, Grammarly explains the reasoning behind each correction so you can make an informed decision about each suggestion. Currently, Grammarly only supports the English language.

Grammarly reviews text quickly using sophisticated and efficient algorithms to analyze your text. These algorithms, combined with powerful, cloud-based computers, lets it process large amounts of text both accurately and quickly. Although it only takes a few seconds, Grammarly thoroughly analyzes your work and provides extensive feedback.

Also, it lets you choose the British English or the American English dictionary and recognizes spelling, grammar, and punctuation differences between them….

To read more please click here.

Get One Week of Grammarly Premium for Free.

Rohi Shetty has invited you to try Grammarly Premium for a week (for free).
Use Grammarly Premium to ensure that all of your daily writing (emails, blogs, social posts, essays, novels) is mistake-free. (No credit card required.)
(Read his article in this newsletter “The Best Online Tool for Writers” for more details.)

Click here to accept his invitation.

(Disclaimer: Rohi will also earn a free week of Premium if you claim this offer. It’s a friends-with-benefits reward, redefined.)

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