An afternoon on the bus Post by Ranu

I have decided to walk 5km  beginning a km a day,the week of 23rd September to 29th September,it is wordpress health week. I am allowed to walk one km a day. With this in mind I left home this afternoon to get ready for the occasion. I need to get myself ready for the walk.I have started walking since yesterday.Today I got dressed for practice,I hardly walked a few yards, I noticed the bus stop. I changed my mind and wanted to go for a ride on the bus.Ten minutes later the bus arrived I happily got on.

Suddenly I remembered the prompt about people watching. Grand idea I told myself I’d have a swell time watching people boarding the bus. A few stops later 3 passengers got on.One was a woman in her thirties and two little kids aged four  and five, the woman was a baby sitter. The four year old was blonde while the other one had dark curly hair. I’m not sure if they had ever boarded a bus,they were sweet with a big smile on their face and wide-eyed. It was a treat watching them. They were very well behaved and did whatever the sitter wanted them to do. After a few stops they got off.

Next I took another bus to get home. There were a bunch of happy people talking about blueberries,how many different ways it can be used. The bus driver was friendly and nice,he turned on the radio at full volume, some of the passengers were singing along including the driver. The bus route I normally take does not provide any kind of  entertainment,this was a new experience for me.

It was soon time for me to get off which I did, I  walked back home  and made sure it was at least a kilometre . I felt good I was able to walk the 1km according to my plan.All in all I had a great time.

DP Daily Prompt: Wind-powered Calculators Post by Ranu

Wind powered well in Nebraska (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have used calculators,I love what they can do better as compared to my brain. Wind-powered calculator.? It will be incredible to have one of those. It would mean no batteries or electricity to operate them. One thing boggles my mind, how on earth will the wind replace battery or electricity? Are they going to capture the wind in a box? My brain is unable to process it. However it is up to the inventors I believe,I will sit and wait for the day when it comes out.

I find it rather intriguing,how we humans are  mismanaging the energy we have. It has come down to load shedding in developing overcrowded countries.Electricity is used sparingly. We complain why that is so, maybe we should be reminded,there was a time when there was no electricity,no switches to play with,what did we do then?

So now we have to look up and ask nature to help us. We need wind-powered technology now. We have depleted the natural resources by our overwhelming need. I wonder if it is possible to use up the wind. For now wind-powered technology is showing its head up. Since we have to go with the flow.I’ll have to bow down and say it’s a necessity. Welcome wind-powered Calculators!

DP Daily Prompt: Goals Post by Ranu

I  became interested to be a blogger after I read a friend’s blog. I did not plan anything,I wrote whatever came to my mind. I got some good ideas from another friend.This got me going for a while. I was running out of topics for my blog.Then came the advice to translate Tagore’s poems. At first I had some rocky roads to climb. I have always listened and loved Tagore’s songs.His poems,there were a few I memorized and found a lot of pleasure reciting them, off and on. To translate his poems to me was not an easy job to take on.I felt what’s the harm,if I get stuck,I’ll give up this idea altogether. Amazingly enough my friends loved my translation.The comments I received were very encouraging. I am still translating them.

I did not have a goal in mind. I noticed I was actually having fun blogging. I have a few followers and they religiously follow my blogs. Now with Daily Prompt I’m in a position to write about various subjects.There are a few I get out from my memory bank.it gives me a lot of incentive to keep on writing.

I am not sure of my achievements,this much is true. I am getting better at translating Tagore’s poems.I am using my brain to think of challenging topics to keep it interesting for me and my followers. I have started reading a lot.The books I bought before with the intention of reading are not collecting dust any more,I’m actually reading them.This is one achievement of mine  I am proud of.

I don’t waste my time watching TV to get rid of boredom.  I conclude by saying,blogging has opened up my horizon. I am thankful I am busy. My time is occupied by reading blogging and more reading.There is no room for the devil to make it his workshop,simply because my brain is not idle!

DP Daily Prompt: Dulled Post by Ranu

Magic Potion (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Using a potion to sharpen,one of my senses and dull the others,is something I will not do. And the worst part of it is accepting from a mysterious man.No I think I’ll prefer my senses to be normal. So many things can go wrong if I try a potion, which I know nothing about. When we are prescribed medicine by a bona fide physician,we are cautioned about the reaction. Whether our system will work the same as countless others.There is always a percentage of people who have adverse reaction,even though it’s a small percentage.Likewise the potion good or bad mysterious or not will have to be placed in the same category as the regular medicine,prescribed by genuine doctors,who have academic qualification and also have proved themselves worthy of practicing their craft.

When it’s a mysterious man, no one knows about him, it is highly dangerous to try anything he tells me to take. I will not try it,no matter what he says.It is risky to try something that will sharpen one sense and dull the others,is not something I will do.

DP Daily Post:Landscape

English: Mother’s Day card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today when I look out my window, I see a long line of mothers ,walking with their infants in a baby carriage, enjoying the beautiful sunny morning.Then I see mothers taking their little five year-old kids to school. It is a day of celebration for all the mothers of the world.It’s an opportunity for fathers to celebrate with their wives,’Mothers Day’!

Sorry Guys   I gave,’Mother’s Day’ an early welcome.It is supposed to be on Sunday,I know this is the first time I thought about it so much.I made a huge mistake. I really apologize to all of you who follow my blog. Next time I’ll make sure to do the right thing.

DP Daily Prompt: Key Takeaway

I think I am a new blogger. My question to all the experienced bloggers is: How do you get other bloggers to read your blog and write their comment? This one is my primary question. I have joined in late October 2012. I have written a variety of things,I find the response not that encouraging. I took the advice of wordpress ,I visited many sites,I left my comment. There is hardly any substantial response.I would like to know what the other bloggers do to increase traffic. One thing I did not do is I did not invite my friends,neighbours or acquaintances to read my blog. Can this be my problem?

Memories Post by Ranu

When I look back at my teaching days, the memories of the children I taught, makes me realize,how special they were. I was one of a kind teacher there,completely different from any they had seen or heard in the nine years of their life. Sometimes they didn’t know how to interact with me. I did not take coffee breaks or any other breaks.I was always present.Some even were bold enough to ask,”Mrs. Asgar,don’t you want to get some coffee”? In reply, “I would say,why so you can fool around”? It was an open and shut case. In my first year they found out,I was scared of walking on the ice,one child volunteered to meet me,so he could help me.We did not have any discussion about it,he came on his own and very faithfully did his job.I think this is what he thought.I don’t remember if I ever thanked him. I hope I did.

The school year was over in June and kids would bring me gifts and look at my expression,they wanted to know if I liked their gifts.I of course thanked them individually. One year, it was the last day of the school year,I was busy putting away books and cleaning up my messy desk. I suddenly noticed Bobby coming in to say something. I looked up and asked did he forget something, he said, “Mrs. Asgar, you don’t like me do you”? I was stunned to hear this,I asked him what made him say this,it’s not true. He said,” you promoted  me to grade five”. I told him there was no reason for me to fail him,he was one of the best students in my class. Even if he failed he would have a different teacher. This knowledge no matter how things turned out,I wouldn’t be his teacher the following year made him happy.

One year I had a new student in my class,the parents moved from a nearby community. He was put in my class.He was a quiet well-disciplined child, I did not have any occasion to take him aside and talk to him. Things were going well. Then came the time for the kids to order books from the Scholastics Book Company. The children would check the books they wanted with the money, I made a list and gave it to the secretary.On one such occasion the new kid did not have the exact change. I was about to give him the change,he looked at me and smiled, he said,”Mrs. Asgar you can keep the change”. I was  surprised  ,I did not want to hurt his feeling I replied’,it’s all right, give it to your Mom’. To this day I wonder how he felt Then there were some who would come to me at the end of the school year and apologize for their bad behaviour during the school year. Although they were not the problem.The ones who needed to apologize did not.

These are some of the memories which reminds me how lucky I was !

DP Daily Prompt: Criticize Post by Ranu

I accidentally came across this title this morning. I think it’s a good one to write about.

I picked this title, it seems to be something we do  automatically.  Once in college I made a comment about a student there.I said ‘Asiya is such a nice girl and she is so pretty.’ My classmate immediately gave her unwanted opinion, ‘O she walks funny’.  I was always attacked by her no matter what I said. If I said ‘ he is a good singer’, immediate response from the same person,’He is a womanizer’. It got so bad I never opened my mouth when she was around.

I sometimes wonder what kind of pleasure can a person get by undermining someone. This is the kind of criticism I can do without. Lately there are all kinds of criticism about a young man,who won the leadership of his party.He is a smart man, is the son of a very famous father who was the prime minister several times. The ruling party is already wasting no time criticizing him. He wasn’t a good teacher,the way he dresses.I’m not sure what else they’ll come up with .They are trying their best to destroy him.There is no such thing as fair in politics.This is the main reason I hate politics. The parties bring out as much dirt about the opposing party as they can. I am also doing the same thing I hate,this is because I feel ,we need smart young people to run the country.If there are so many obstacles in their path, they will not come forward.

I like the U.S. system,a president can only have two terms. In some countries they’re there for life. In my humble opinion constructive criticism is good. If it is the other way around,it hurts,the people and the country.

DP Daily Prompt: Art Appreciation Posted by Ranu

When I go to an Art exhibition, I love viewing all the beautiful pieces of Art before me.I may pay a little more attention if it is someone who is renowned. I go to see art and it is not based on the artist’s life style or political affiliation. Sometimes I try to see how the artist has used colours and learn from it .

When I see an attractive piece of work I’ll buy it if I can afford it. I hope Art is not mixed up with politics,it’ll be a shame if it does.

DP Daily Prompt: Plagiarize yourself Posted by Ranu

This Daily Prompt was about our comments we wrote,while we were visiting different blogs.I took this one from ,”I’m Afraid Of The Dark”  I enjoyed writing my comment for this one. To make it interesting I have copied her title “All Grown Up” and her conversation with Peter Pan:

Blogger: “I’m Afraid Of The Dark” Post Title : All Grown Up

Peter Pan (1988 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One second…I’m on the phone to Peter Pan and he wants to make me a Lost Girl.

Oh ,sorry?When was the first time I feel like a grown up? Maturity? What’s that?!

I haven’t grown up and I don’t think I will for a while.I’m a teenager and the idea of being twenty and then thirty(and so on…)freaks me out.I’ll be in the university soon and then I’ll have a job.What if everything goes wrong before then and I fail all my exams? I have to go and hyperventilate into a paper bag.

I came by and wrote my comment.

Ranu: Interesting! I mean very.You are too young to feel grown up.Some do even at twelve. Mark my word ‘some’.There isn’t a whole lot. So you my dear are in a very safe territory. Do not worry about the ripe old age of twenty.Think about it this way,there are three hundred sixty five days in a year,multiply it by five and it is ,one thousand eight-hundred and twenty five days,and do not forget the measly one day, because there has to be a leap year.So it is quite a mouthful.You are a long way away,so please do not worry. I enjoyed this post,thank you.

Reply: I’m Afraid Of The Dark: Thank you. I love reading your comments. Those statistics made me feel less like time is flying past. Thank you again for taking time to read my blog.