The journey of becoming a writer

Exactly a year ago, I started writing and updating my blog regularly on WordPress and Instagram (I created ‘The Shooting Star Blog’ in 2015 as a hobby). Being stuck at home due to covid-related lockdowns, I had finally found the time and determination needed to write consistently. And here I am, a year later, holding a book that has one of my pieces in PRINT!!

From writing poems on the back side of my question papers in school to finding one of my poems being printed in a physical book (e-book as well!), it’s been quite an amazing journey. Also, my favorite part of it all is that one of my poems I had written celebrating Women’s Day is being published.

This also reinstates my faith in the Universe and makes me believe that if you pour your heart into something you really care about and put in your honest efforts, things do tend to work out. Generally, for the best.💫

P.S: It’s available for purchase using the following link:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/9391228410/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_glc_fabc_JSZ4505HQ5HEXATWPST1

Pressed flowers in a book

Let’s collect flowers and save them in a book
Pressed amidst random pages, where no one would look
From the days when we wished for the time to stop
So that our good times would run in an endless loop

Let these flowers you pick from the ground
Remind you of days that made you forget time
And how happy you were in your own little world
Oblivious to everything happening around you

And each time you come across a dried little flower
I hope the faint scent and its imprints on the pages
Remind you of a time when this flower was in full bloom
But right now, it’s a cherished memory, an invaluable heirloom

– Ashwini

P.S: We found these cherry blossom trees in the Japanese Tea Garden located in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Eagerly waiting for the cherry blossoms to arrive again this Spring!

Old habits die hard

They say, old habits die hard
When I look at you every time you walk into the room, I understand why
They also say, it takes 21 days to create a new habit
I don’t know which is worse, the 21 days of not looking at you
Or the 21 days of replacing you with a new habit
Because time for me has come to a standstill since the day I saw you
Maybe you weren’t just a habit
But a reminder of the love I have carried for you since then
So I take this love and let it walk away with you
Coz it’s always been yours to keep
Realizing that you don’t have to give up on some habits,
But gradually learn to just let them go
I simply walk out of the room, into the bright new world
Like a man with a heart full of dreams
Knowing there are things and places meant for me
Now, all I need is to form a habit that takes me one step closer towards my dreams

– Ashwini

P.S: I took this picture while riding on a two-wheeler with my friend in Gainesville, Florida. Loved how the Spanish moss growing on these trees gives them a dramatic effect.

The flowers that bloom

If you ever wonder what you’re made of,
Think about the flowers that bloom through branches and thorns alike
Their purpose is to grow into these beautiful flowers
That makes walkers stop by to adore and smell
Or make people carry a fresh bunch home
To remind them how beautiful this world actually is
How even a single stem can brighten up your day
And how an entire bunch fills your entire room with fragrance

Let these flowers remind you
That you too, are meant to grow into something beautiful
Sometimes you need to just let yourself be
Maybe a sunflower, maybe an orchid, maybe a tulip
You don’t need to be a part of the same bunch

Choose whatever you want to be and sow the seeds today
Slowly growing roots and expanding your stems
Even if the world looks at you just as a bud today,
There will be a time when you too, will be in full bloom. 🌸

– Ashwini

P.S: Came across these lovely flowers while taking a walk in New York City. Loving the spring vibes all around!

The waterfall..

They say, she tells a story without any words
All you have to do is pause and simply watch her flourish
Through the long branches of trees old and new
How she cuts through massive rocks that try to block her way
And flows over the tiny pebbles that people once threw

She doesn’t seem to care how they view her or judge her criss-cross path
For all she knew was to flourish through it all
Changing courses when the obstacles didn’t let her slide through
For one way or the other she was meant to endlessly flow

She moved seamlessly, being her unapologetic self
That grew and outgrew everything that came under her way
Roaring through the wild forests, “I am born this way and this is what I am meant to do”,
She gathered all of her forces and incessantly she moved

Leaving the world to see the marvel that she was
A natural beauty, creating magic wherever she falls ✨

– Ashwini

P.S: This picture was taken at the Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina and was shot on my good old iPhone 8. Always fun to try something new in photography! Also, happy weekend!

Her little book of dreams

When she was just a innocent little girl
She dreamt and wrote about things she would achieve in this world
She giggled and danced her way through adolescence
Always carrying her little book of dreams in her tiny hands

But the realities of the unjust world put her in a cage
Started tearing down her dreams page-by-page
People kept telling her how she should be holding a pan and a ladle
Or she was simply born to swing her baby’s cradle

She gathered all the tattered pieces of her broken dreams
And stuck them back together, a beautiful mosaic it seemed
She clutched the book even more closer to her heart
And stood up for all the girls whose dreams were torn apart

– Ashwini

Epilogue:

All over the world, a girl’s education is deemed optional for her growth. Because according to some, a woman’s place is in the kitchen and not in a classroom or a workplace. Historically, this has been happening since centuries. But with changing times, even the society needs to evolve.

Women have the strength and power to run a household as well as a workplace. What they need is support and encouragement. Mostly importantly, we need to remember, when you educate a girl, you are educating a child. Let’s work on that! 👸🏻

Born from the fire!

She often liked to play with fire,
Always chasing after what her heart desired.
That day she stood in front of the blazing sun,
Trying to catch the morning light, to make a run.


Through the gloomy clouds the sun quietly whispered to her,
Fear not my darling, even though things seem a little blur;
These clouds of doubt and fear will drift away,
Only if you hold onto a little, just wait for the sun’s first ray.


For you are born from the fire that you often seek,
The light that radiates from you is just a tiny peek.
So just shine through the haze from wherever you are,
Just as I continue to radiate light and warmth, long and far.

Epilogue: Too often, we go chasing after things and people that we are attracted to, that we feel will add meaning to our lives. However, during this journey, we often forget to think about ourselves. If we begin to recognize our own power, the potential that lies within, we begin to discover ourselves. You don’t need to chase after all these external variables, when you realize that you are enough. That you, yourself, are all the light you will ever need!

PS: I woke up to this sunrise after only 2 hours of sleep in one of the most remote AirBnbs I’ve been to. Felt like the perfect place to be during this pandemic, a perfect countryside beauty. I could see the sun rising through my window and I HAD TO run outside to see it! 🤩