365 Writing Prompts: Keeping up with the Jones’

Tell us about the luxury item you wish you could afford,in as much detail as you can.Paint a picture for us.

This is a very interesting prompt, thank you WordPress.

As far as my memory goes I had no intention of wanting something my friend or acquaintance had, simply because I never felt I had to have things the same or better than anyone else.

I was perfectly happy to have what I could afford and I I never failed to appreciate what the so called Jones’ had if it was beautiful.

I remember my husband once asked me, “Ranu don’t you want a house like the one our friends have?”

I told him I did not, my reason was it was too large and I wouldn’t be able to take care of it.

I have no idea what my husband thought, my feeling is why should I go for something that our friends have, if it is not practical?

I am of the opinion not every one is keen to keep up with the Jones!’

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/365-writing-pr…with-the-jones/

 

365 days Writing Prompt: Say your Name

Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

My first name is CHAMAN,  I am not named after someone but am named after something, the thing is a Garden.I presume my father was delighted to have a second daughter after double the number of sons, he I think consulted his dear friend, who was an artist and loved reading about names,my father went to him at the most opportune time, he was reading about names for girls and how they affect their personality. 

“Eureka I have found a name for your daughter, he said, name her Chaman, it sounds beautiful and it means a garden, how can you go wrong with this name.”

My father rushed home, told my mother he’s found the best name, “it is Chaman, don’t you hear the rhythm of this name, it’s settled we’ll name her Chaman?” Then this excitement brought on other stories of the name, Urdu poets have written volumes of poetry centred around this exquisite name.

Chaman grew up to be a very inquisitive little girl, you could not tell her anything without answering her ‘Why’ questions that followed, her eldest brother tried to stop her by saying, “You know curiosity killed a cat, ‘how’ was her query. Elder brother gave up and felt with time this habit will no longer persist.

I love my name I’ll never think of changing it even if I had a choice. Would you change yours if there were so many magical stories attached to it?

 https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/365-days-writing-prompt/

DP Daily Prompt: Name that ……You! Post by Ranu

Garden “butchart gardens”, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am simply delighted to know,this prompt is all about our name. My name means ,”Garden”, I have no idea what made my parents choose this name. As far as I can remember the name was suggested by a very good friend of my parents.

Whether this name suits me or not, I really don’t know. My name is Chaman, it means ‘A Garden’. Let me define a garden. A garden is a beautiful place.There are flowers of every variety known to man. When one visits a garden,the sole purpose is to sit and take in the beauty of it and think of pleasant things. Poets visit gardens to get inspiration for their poems.Wordsworth,Tagore,Iqbal and others have written volumes about it. I love poetry and the ones written, keeping the garden in focus gives me enormous pleasure.

Artists paint pictures of gardens and use incredible colors, to attract the attention of scores of people.

When I think of a garden,immediately a beautiful picture captivates my mind. The flowers,the birds,butterflies,children playing,elders sitting on benches taking in the beauty of the atmosphere,all in all it’s a picture of heaven on earth.

My mother always said a name effects a person’s personality.According to her, parents should choose names for their children carefully.

I do not know whether my name suits me. I know I am friendly,I treat people kindly,I have a smile on my face when I meet new people,I have a special affinity for children. I can interact with them for any length of time. When you think of a garden, children come to mind,they enhance its beauty by their sheer presence.

When we named our children,we wanted the names to be people friendly,in other words,they were growing up in North America,it should be easy for the people they come into contact with to pronounce their names.We did that except the youngest,we originally wanted to name her ‘Sonya’,our good friend kind of bullied us into changing it to,’Fatima’. Her friends butchered the name,some called her,’Fat e ma’, and wondered why her parents did not name her,’Skinny ma’,because she was so thin.

I have read poems where the poet says, ‘What’s in a name’. I think it’s important to choose names wisely for our children!

DP Daily Prompt: Moved to Tears Post by Ranu

It happened in my second year of teaching.I was teaching in an all boys school.It was a ‘Residential Model School.’There were boys ranging in age from five years to twelve. One of the five year old was asked by my colleague,’Who was his favorite teacher’? He immediately, said “Chaman Apa”. ( Apa means big sister in Urdu) It sounded so beautiful,to me a five year old only thinks of his mother.This really moved me to tears.

I knew then, my decision to teach little kids was the right one.

DP Daily Prompt: The Natural World Post by Ranu

I was able to enjoy nature first hand in my Grandpa’s village. My Grandpa was a lover of nature,he planted trees,flowers and all sorts of fruit trees he was able to find. His garden looked like a little park where we all could play,eat,run and enjoy ourselves.There was no fear of predators, wild animals or anything that could be a source of fear to us.It seems he built his garden for his grand kids,so we would be completely satisfied. And we did, it was sad Grandpa left us long before we visited, his beautiful house and garden.

We were in awe when we looked around this garden. We weren’t old enough to realize how much time Gramps spent building this place. We spent endless hours looking at the fruit trees,the flowers,they were a joy to behold.I wouldn’t mind spending any number of days in my Grandpa’s house and garden. A journey to a forest or a city simply cannot be compared with the fun we had in my maternal Grandpa’s place.

Tagore’s song post by Ranu

DP Daily Prompt: Weaving threads post by Ranu

Foliage in the Parc du bassin Bonsecours and dome of the Marché Bonsecours (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: View of downtown Montreal. Français : Vue du centre de Montréal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like  Montreal .

It is a beautiful city.

The best part is,when I go there, I hear diverse languages,including my own. Parlez,vous francais?  Non, je parle Anglais, Monsieur!

Crystal Mosque Post By Ranu

Masjid Kristal (Photo credit: irwandy)

English: Cristal Mosque in Kuala Terengganu (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Made of Steel,Glass and Crystal.It is one of the most beautiful mosques in the world. The construction started in 2006 and was completed in 2008. It is located at Islamic Heritage on the island of Wan Man in Malaysia. It has the capacity to accommodate 1500 worshippers at a time.

There are four minarets in the mosque.

DP NaPoWriMo Post by ranu

There once was a beautiful lady,

She came to my abode daily.

Though I did not know

why she would always come,

I always treated her kindly.

Then one gloomy morning

she came and said oh my dear,

Can I borrow some money

I looked at her inquiringly

and said deliberately

why would you borrow

when you have no sorrow

my dear beautiful lady!

Daily Prompt…Menagerie

We had three beautiful cats.They were JD,Alex and Thursday.We had them for a number of years.They brought joy to our lives.JD was my husband’s favourite , they seemed to understand each other well.Their affection for each other started after JD was spayed. When we brought her back from surgery we were advised to make sure she did not climb the stairs.I put her in a room in the basement and shut the door. My husband came home and the first question from him was ,’Where is JD?’I told him where she was. He looked disturbed and immediately went down to see her. JD meowed the loudest as if she was complaining,my husband picked her up and started talking to her,”Okay JD no one is going to leave you in this room,I will take you upstairs.” And thus began their friendship.She loved to eat cod fish,it was bought especially for her.I baked the fish and gave it to her.You could see the satisfaction in her gorgeous face. She liked our bed and slept in the middle,if I moved a bit,she would complain by meowing. She knew my husband’s routine,of praying and his prayer rug. One day a friend of ours came for a visit,when it was prayer time he asked for the rug,he laid  the rug on the floor and stood up to pray.JD immediately appeared wagging her tail,she stepped in the middle of the rug and looked up at him,as if telling him,’you cannot use this,it belongs to my master’. No amount of calling her made any difference,she stood there challenging him. At last the friend had to go to another room to pray.

We had her for a long time,she got sick ,despite all our efforts to get her better, we failed .JD left us on a cold evening in November.

We still had two others,they were different.They did not have the same personality like JD, our love for them was not any less.Alex loved my daughter Anita,she always followed her wherever she went. When Anita left to go to the university,she was devastated,every morning she sat in front of her room,hoping to get a glimpse of her. After waiting for four weeks,she realized  Anita was gone.

Alex showed symptoms of diabetes,we took her to the vet.,who confirmed our fear.She was under treatment for a year.Her condition got worse.She too died.Our cat Thursday missed the two cats and seemed to be quieter.It was unusual for her. Sometimes we fail to realize that even though they are animals they too feel sad .

Thursday was a friendly cat. She had a very mild disposition,she loved everyone. She was very fond of me and loved to sleep on my chest,when I was lying on the sofa watching TV. She loved to eat both her food and ours. She looked exactly like our blogger Terri’s cat,when Terri posted some pictures of her cat,I had to reblog it.Thursday was the only cat left,we had her for another year after Alex died. Thursday developed urinary tract infection.She died of renal failure.

After the death of our three cats,I didn’t think of getting any more.I felt terrible when they all died. They were a part of our family. I could not bear the thought of replacing them.

The picture of the cat below,looks exactly like JD.

Cat, with its mouth open (Photo credit: Wikipedia)