A Bengali Poem translated by Ranu

The following is a Bengali poem I read when I was attending Primary school.

A pedestrian walking on the road,

Was bitten by a mad dog I’m told.

So severe was the canine’s bite,

It poisoned his leg with all its might.

He lay on his bed with severe pain,

His daughter overlooked Dad’s pain.

Instead she took him to task, said, Oh Dad,

You could’ve used your teeth to bite him back.

Writhing in pain the father explained,

The dog did what dog’s do

It doesn’t look good for

It’s improper for a human

to do the same he groaned!

……………………………………………. 🙂

Writing : Intro to Poetry, Day Four: Journey

 

Enhance your poem with a SIMILE

Our journey felt as warm as the morning sun

The further we went the clouds above spoiled our fun

Still we were optimistic it will change

But unfortunately the heavy clouds

Fell as rain like nature was dropping

Buckets of water.

It was a perfect transformation from

Dry to wet.

We kept our mind cool

Continued  driving like a fool.

But the nightmare continued as our

Car hit something heavy

The gas tank needle turned to empty.

We checked the map to find a gas station

Nothing to worry the man said

The impact bent your tank

We were not quite satisfied

Resumed driving until we reached

Our destination.

I told my husband you liked the color

lemon, well it proved it  really

is as sour as a lemon!

…………………….. 🙂

 

 

 

Writing: Intro to Poetry, Day Three: Friend

Acrostic

Feline Raphael is a Siamese breed,

Restlessness is one of his serious misdeeds.

In comes he to my room each day,

Evil intentions are always his way.

No is a word he does not like,

Defiantly he perches ready to strike.

………………………. 🙂

Intropoetry: Water, haiku

Swimming in water

A baby in mother’s womb

Marvel of nature!

Book Review, Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden

‘ Memoirs Of A Geisha,’ is my book #24 which I picked up for the 2016 reading challenge. I now have one more book to read to complete my challenge.

I’m really pleased I could achieve this goal so fast. I’ve realized I’m one of those people who  get motivated if I’m challenged. It worked for me and it can work for any one who wants to do it.

When I picked up,  ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ I had a lot of misconceptions.  Arthur Golding has beautifully erased those out of my mind, I’m happy I took the trouble of reading it.

The novel is about a girl who was sold by her father, at a very young age the struggles she had to undergo was amazing, she kept her cool, listened to her elders and worked hard to become a Geisha.

She met many people some she liked others she didn’t but focused to achieve her goal, which she ultimately achieved. In one of the paragraphs she mentions that as a younger woman, “I believed that passion must surely fade with age, just a cup left standing in a room will gradually give up its contents to the air. But when the Chairman and I returned to my apartment,we drank each other up with so much yearning and need that afterward I felt myself drained of all the things that the Chairman had taken from me, yet filled with all that I had taken from him.I fell into a sound sleep and dreamed that I was in a banquet at Gion,talking with an elderly man who was explaining to me that his wife whom he’d cared for deeply , wasn’t really dead because the pleasure of their time together lived on inside him. I began to feel all the  people I’ve ever known who had died or left me had not in fact gone away , but continued to live on inside me ___ my sister Satsu, who had run away and left me so young; my father and mother; Mr. Tanaka, with his perverse view of kindness ;Nobu who could never forgive me ;even the Chairman. Even now that the Chairman is gone I have him still, in the richness of my memories. I’ve lived my life again just telling it to you.”

These words were so touching, I had to copy it and post it, so my readers would understand how much pleasure I got reading this book.

…………………………….:)

 

Book Review, Kabuli Wala, story by Tagore, Review by Ranu

KABULIWALA

So far I read twenty books for the 2016 Reading Challenge.

Today it gives me pleasure to write a review of my favourite author, Tagore’s story Kabuli Wala.

Rehmat came all the way from Afghanistan to a community in Bengal, to earn money. Times were difficult back home so he and some of his friends went to Bengal to earn their living by selling shawls and some nuts and raisins.

Rehmat was a very honest man, he was simple and trusted every one he met. He let them have the shawl and nuts, even if they couldn’t pay on the understanding they would give the money at a later date.

Some  people cheated him they claimed they did not owe anything to the Kabuliwala ( Rehmat) and that he  was lying.

During this time he met a little girl named Mini, he called her Khuki(a child). Mini and the Kabuliwala became good friends, he’d give her nuts and raisins free and the two played some simple games.

The maid servant of Mini’s parents, was very suspicious, she told the mother that Kabuliwala will take her daughter away and sell her. At first the mother did not pay attention, but the maid convinced her it was true. This created a misunderstanding, the mother refused to let her daughter see the nice man.

Kabuliwala actually had a daughter Mini’s age. He felt better interacting with his little friend, who was so much like Rabeya his daughter.

Tagore’s portrayal of Kabuliwala and the little girl Mini was excellent.

The message I get from the story is we humans have a tendency to suspect someone who is different from us, especially if they are poor speak a different language, we think they should not be trusted.

The father liked the man but the mother did not. It took the mother a long time to realize how innocent the man was. She showed it by giving him the money she saved for her daughter,Mini’s wedding ceremony.

Kabuli Wala went to see Mini before he left to go back to his home in Afghanistan, it was tough for him to see his little friend had grown up.

It made him realize he missed seeing his own daughter growing up.

Tagore loved the poor people regardless of where they came from, he used to move around with them whenever he went to take care of his family’s lands.

………………………………….. 🙂

Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee by ranu

To Kill A Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Type of work: Novel

Published: 1960

Publishers: J.B.Lippincott

Pages: 376

The story revolved around the finch family, where they lived, their neighbours and some individuals who lived in the small town.

Main characters were: Scout Finch- the daughter

Attacus Finch- the lawyer and father of Scout, and Jem

Jem Finch : the son

Tom Robinson

Bob Ewell

Boo Radley

Scout Finch is the narrator, her father Mr. Attacus Finch is a lawyer, her brother Jem Finch is older than Scout. Tom Robinson is a poor black guy who worked for some of the main characters. Bob Ewell was a racist, who hated the blacks in the community. Boo Radley  was happy to be at home, he did not have any contact with the members of the community.

The story takes place in Maycomb county, an imaginary district in southern Alabama. The time was 1930s the great years of depression, it was the time when poverty and unemployment was widespread in the United States.

The author felt it is a sin to kill a mockingbird since it’s not harmful. She cleverly implies that the townspeople are responsible for the death of one of the characters in the story.

I enjoyed reading  this book, it brought back memories of the kids I taught in school. They had that typical behaviour which I consider  innocent. It also portrays the fact that children are never afraid to tell the truth.

Although the title of this book did not attract my attention, I was delighted I had finally considered reading it. It is full of humour and wit.

My favourite characters in this book were Scout, the narrator and Attacus the lawyer and father of the two kids.

There were a few sad moments but that is to be expected, no one rich, poor or middle of the pack goes through life without having to deal with sadness.

I will not hesitate to recommend this book to any one. Anyone with some sense of humour would like this book.

……………………….. 🙂

Books, Reading challenge.

READING  CHALLENGE,2016   🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi all, I’ve read 17 books so far, my challenge is to read 25 books. The last one I read was a disappointment, but it seems I’m supposed to read all varieties the Good, the Bad and the Uninteresting.

If you love mystery Dan Brown’s novel, ‘The Lost Symbol, ‘ will entertain you if you don’t mind the quarrel between father and son. Who do you think had the last laugh?

Good luck to all the challengers.  🙂

Book Review: Atonement by IAN McEWAN

Book Review: Atonement

Characters: Briony- youngest daughter

Cecilia- the eldest daughter

Leon – the son

Mr. and Mrs. Tallis – the parents of the above characters

Robbie: main character and boyfriend of Cecilia

Genres: social novel, fiction, psychological, suspense, mystery.

 

This is the story of a family of five, two sisters, a brother and mom and dad. they are : Cecilia Tallis- eldest daughter, Briony Tallis -youngest daughter, and Leon Tallis the one and only son.

Briony the youngest loved writing stories, she also wrote a play.She wanted to stage the play, but was unable,as the characters she chose did not cooperate. I found her too bossy and at times I thought she should act her age and not try to interfere in the lives of her older siblings.

As far as credibility goes, I found Cecilia all right, Leon the brother did his own thing, the one character I thought was not worthy was Briony.

Among the main characters, Briony caused trouble in the family as a result they were split up. She also lied against Robbie and was responsible for sending him to prison.

I liked Robbie one of the main characters, he was helpful to the Tallis family. He was also grateful to Mr. Tallis who gave him financial help to continue  his education.

I like Cecilia too, but I did not like Briony at all, she was the reason the family broke up.

I liked the part where Briony admits her guilt and visits her sister Cecilia to tell her she was sorry for sending Robbie to prison by lying about him. This shows she has a conscience.

I couldn’t understand why the author decided to change it in the last chapter. Where he says through Briony that the book is not entirely truthful about Cecilia and Robbie that they were not reunited but died separately during the war.

I would recommend the book to the readers, I personally feel  there is a lot to learn from it.

……………………………….. 🙂

Book Review: Hand Me Down World, by Lloyd Jones

Hand Me Down World: Written by Lloyd Jones

Book Review

This is the story of a woman who worked in a hotel in Tunisia, she was deceived by her boyfriend Jermaine who took her son away from her and went to Berlin.

Her name was Ines, she went through a lot of hardship to get her son back. In her quest to travel to Berlin to find her son, she was helped by several people. Some of them were good, some not so much.

In the beginning I was not finding the story interesting, as I read further I realized this was the story of a mother who went through a lot of hardship and sacrifice.

The story is narrated by different people, towards the end Ines narrates the story herself. Her notion of the people was different from the other narrators.

I found it boring and didn’t enjoy reading it.

……………………………. 🙂