Daily Prompt: Game of Groans

Think of an object, an activity, or a cultural phenomenon you really don’t like. Now write a post(tongue in ….cheek or not…your call)about it’s the best thing ever.

Last week I was invited to attend a graduation party hosted by the parents of the graduate in a  church basement in the city. The hostess went all out, she cooked everything she thought would be appreciated by her guests.

There were three different dishes of chicken, there was beef and salmon fish. Rice was also served with it. We call  pulao or pilaf the English version.

The dessert was Gulab Jamun, our Canadian friends love it. We love it too and I have a recipe in my blog.

At first I was hesitant about going to the party, certain people who were  invited  are seasoned gossippers, I don’t care much about it.

The party went well, I was happy I decided to go. Sometimes I need to see people who speak the same language as me, I don’t mind speaking English ,but I do not want to lose touch with my mother tongue, which my father worked so hard to remind us we must know our own language first, then the ones we learned in school,and  in the neighborhood.

Regardless of where fate puts us it’s always a good thing to remember our roots.

And yes I had a good time speaking my mother tongue with a whole bunch of people. I enjoyed being there and realized I need to keep in touch with some of these people.

 

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Daily Prompt:____ is the new_____

Click over to your favorite blog and pick out the 4th and the 14th words(that aren’t “the” or “an”)drop them into this phrase: _Me__ is the new_box__.

I follow Moondustwriter’s  blog. In one of her poems, the word “Me” was the fourth word and “Box” was the fourteenth.

Let me see how I can write a post using  the title  :

“Me is the new box”

Years ago in the land of wizards there lived a sage who was capable of  turning anyone into whatever he wanted, a cup, a box,  a tree ,  you name the object he could transform anyone into anything. Do you think this is possible? Well in fiction anything is attainable .

It so happened Mr. and Mrs. stuffed shirt had a daughter whom they named , “Me”, she was a pretty girl who was aware of her looks. Her personality traits were nothing to boast about. She was stubborn, vain, rude, to sum up she was the most obnoxious girl on the land of the wizard.

One of the wizards challenged her to go to the sage and tell him, he could not change her into anything. Now “Me” was always ready to prove people wrong .

Without thinking of the consequence she went to the sage and said:

“Mr. Sage I bet you cannot make me look like a box.”

Mr. Sage was angry he said:

“Are you challenging me?”

Me giggled and said:

“Yes I am .”

As soon as those words came out of her mouth, the Sage was crimson red, he yelled out, “Do not blame me, you asked for it.”

The Sage stood up from his sitting position and drew a few invisible signs on the ground,burst into a roaring laughter which everyone heard in the land including Me’s parents. Young and old,sick and healthy, rich and poor, all ran to see where the noise was coming from.

No one could see anything but a huge square box and the sage laughing. One little boy tip toed to the place where the Sage was, out of curiosity he asked, “Why are you laughing so loud Sage?”

Sage looked at the boy and burst into a laughter louder than the first time. He stopped for a few minutes and said to the boy, “Hi tiny Tot, do you want to challenge me too?”

Tiny Tot had no idea, he raised his eyes and said: “What?”

Sage knew no one had any idea what happened to “Me.”

He took a few steps back and roared: You see the box in the middle?   “Me” is the new box.”

“Don’t you think she is pretty,” he said.

Mr. and Mrs. Stuffed Shirt were livid both screamed, “You change her right now.”

Sage glanced at them and said, “She challenged me, sorry it can’t be done.” 😦

 

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Daily Prompt : Simply the best

Nasa is building a new voyager spacecraft that will carry the best of human culture. What belongs on board?

I would love to see the Best Chefs, famous Artists,  Musicians, Scientists and Physicians. Nurses to take care of any one   on board who gets sick.

All these people will entertain each other as they perform their specific craft. Wouldn’t it be lovely?

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Tagore song: Aami shudhu roinu baaki, posted and translated by Ranu

2012

আমিই শুধু রইনু বাকি ।
যা ছিল তা গেল চলে, রইল যা তা কেবল ফাঁকি ।।
আমার ব’লে ছিল যারা আর তো তারা দেয় না সাড়া-
কোথায় তারা, কোথায় তারা, কেঁদে কেঁদে কারে ডাকি ।।
বল্‌ দেখি মা, শুধাই তোরে- আমার কিছু রাখলি নে রে,
আমি কেবল আমায় নিয়ে কোন্‌ প্রাণেতে বেঁচে থাকি ।।

I am the only one left

What I had went away

What remains is deceit

Those who were mine

They no longer respond

Where are they, where are they

I weep and wonder

Whom shall I call

Tell me mother, I ask you–

You did not leave ,anything

That belonged to me

What kind of heart do I need

To live only by myself.

I was thinking about the lyrics of Tagore’s song. I thought he was probably thinking about his own life. His mother died soon after he was born, when he grew up and got married, he and his wife had four children all of them died at an early age. His wife also died early. Tagore was alone.

This may be the reason, he wrote the song: Aami shudhu roinu baaki– I am the only one left, what I had went away. Those who were mine, they no longer respond.

……………………………… 🙂

 

Daily Prompt: Fourth Wall

You get to spend a day at your favorite movie.Tell us which one it is– and what happens to you while you are there?

Yesterday I watched my favorite movie on YouTube, the title of the movie is, “Shaapmochone ” meaning is , “Release from a curse.” It is a Bengali movie, I love watching them on  YouTube .

It’s the story of a young man whose great grandpa was cursed by his music teacher. Great grandpa was singing  and  playing a musical instrument in a big hall, where all the renowned people were gathered to listen to his music. The music teacher heard the voice of his student, he felt proud, he went inside without invitation, he did not care , he started talking to his pupil( i.e great grandpa. )

His pupil denied knowing him and told him to leave. This was an insult he did not expect. In his anger, he told him, “I am cursing you, in future, none of your descendants will ever be able to play any kind of instrument or sing, if they try they will either die at a young age or will be an invalid rest of their life.”

Great grandpa died soon after the curse and from then on any member of his family who  tried to sing or play a musical instrument  either died or were invalid.

The young man’s older brother went blind after he tried to sing and play music. The main character of this movie was the young man. When he realized  it was a serious curse, he decided not to pursue a career in music.

I think my presence in this movie will be to figure out, how I can release these descendants from the curse. So I go in and I suggest that they(the descendants) can get release from the curse, if they feed at least two poor families and in return pray for them so they are not cursed any more.The only problem is the script is written already. How will my presence help.

I think I will go on the set, and provide some food and drink to the actors. Uttam Kumar (The main character) gives the impression of a nice man, so I’ll follow him everywhere. If he notices I’m not supposed to be there he’ll get the guards to throw me out. I don’t think I will feel comfortable inside the movie. The language will not be a problem, my mother tongue is Bengali.

I can see I will come out angry and put a curse on the people who put me there. No it will not work. I’d rather sit in front of my computer and watch the movie again!!

This movie is long just watch a few scenes until the teacher enters in the hall and curses the singer.

 

 

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The Daily Post: Sweet Dreams(Are Made of This)

What is the best dream you’ve ever had? Recount it for us in all its ethereal glory. If no dreams stands out in your memory, recount your worst nightmare. Leave no frightening detail out.

I did not have any sweet dreams. One morning I was sleeping and was lazy to wake up and say my morning prayer. Suddenly I heard someone saying, “Ranu get up and say your prayer.”

I was scared I was out of my bed that instant, washed myself and  got my prayer rug ready  to pray.

………………………………… 🙂

DP : You’re a Winner!

You’ve just won $1 billion dollars in the local lottery. You do not have to pay tax on your winnings. How will you spend the money?

I am delighted to know about the one billion dollars I’ve won in the local lottery, I do not have to pay taxes, it sounds sweet. Even better than sugar, the primary ingredient in almost all desserts.

It will be like easy come easy go money. I didn’t work for it , I won it. Spending it can be easy if I want to party around all over the planet. Wait now I’m hearing a voice, it’s telling me this is my opportunity to be generous.

Whenever I watch TV , there is  always someone asking us to donate money to poverty stricken children in Africa, or somewhere else. I have often thought how great it would be if I could help out the people who are starving.

Instead of using the money to buy expensive stuff for myself, I’d rather donate all of this money to charity. I’d feel much better doing this than buying expensive cars, jewelry, clothes, homes, or what have you.

My mind is made up I will give all of this money away!!

……………………………..  🙂

DP : Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda…

Tell us about something you should do….. but don’t.

There are many things  I should do..but don’t. I got the idea from Michele of WordPress. One of the most important ideas from “Blogging 101” is be a good neighbor, I feel terrible to admit I haven’t done that at all until we got the assignment.

I met some awesome neighbors, Mireille’s health journey, ‘Along the side of the road’ I met   Marianne and her post post S.M.A.R.T.

‘Urge to wander’ is Madhu’s blog, she wrote a post in memory of her friend, Christine she passed away a year ago.

Now I get the post from  these great neighbors whom I didn’t know before, now that I am lucky to find them, I enjoy reading their posts a lot.

This morning Mireille had a guest post, her guest posted an awesome recipe with apricot. I loved it so much I reblogged it, I know my friends will love the recipe.

I think I will say hello to more neighbors, it will be helpful and I also want to be a good neighbor.

………………………………. 🙂

Song of nature by Cat Stevens , posted by Ranu

I am posting this song once again for all those who love music, nature, God’s creations. For once let us forget all our negative thoughts and wholeheartedly embrace all that is positive. We all have days when life is not fair, but in a way it teaches us that with every disappointment in life, there will be days of positive things to make us happy.

So let us  learn to put up with the cold negativity we face in everyday life and replace it with everything positive we have had in our life. Which reminds me what I learned in Moral science: “Man can be happy to some extent but cannot attain perfect happiness!”

I  dedicate this song to everyone on this planet. May God be with you all!

Amazing Apricots!