365 Writing prompts: Unknown Caller

You receive a call from an unexpected person. Who is it, and what is the conversation about? Go!

I lost touch with this person, so when she called, I could not recognize her voice. I guessed wrong.

The phone rings, ring… ring…I pick it up:

Me:    Hello

Unexpected person: Hello, Chaman, guess who?

Me: Is it Ateka?

Unexpected  person: No

Me: I don’t know, who is it?

Unexpected person: I’m Evie( she is excited)

Me: Evie? How did you get my number?(surprised)

Evie: I got it from Mrs. Abbas ( still excited)

Me:Oh Evie where are you? Are you living in Toronto?

Evie: No, I’m still in Whitby, in the same house, I have the same number.

Me: But Evie I called you once, someone picked it up and said, they’ve been living in that house, she never heard the name Evie. I thought perhaps you sold your house and moved to Toronto.

Evie:   No we didn’t sell the house. I wrote to you and my letter came back.

Me: I am so glad I found you. How did you get Mrs. Abbas’s number?

Evie : I asked Sr. Brenda, she gave me her number.

Me: Thank you Evie, I moved to St. John’s a few years ago.

Evie: Chaman I’ll call you again on Thursday.

Me: Thank you Evie, bye!

This was a real conversation between me and Evie. 🙂

……………………….

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: Say Your Name Post by Ranu

My Dad loved the word paradise. He named my older sister ‘Firdous’, which means ,Paradise in English. He wanted to be within the confines of paradise, he decided his second daughter should be named, ‘Chaman’, my name means garden in Urdu. He named his third daughter,’Hoor’, meaning angel. Hoor also is an Urdu word. Then came the turn of the fourth,he named her,Roshan which means manifest. All these names are Urdu words. In our home we have,Paradise,Garden,Angel and manifest.

When one thinks of paradise:garden,angel and manifest comes to mind.My Dad did a fine job naming us.

My name ‘Chaman’ means garden. There are a lot of poems written by famous people about ‘A Garden’ or Gardens. I love my name.I cannot think of renaming myself. I love reading the poems composed by poets.

Here are two verses written by Iqbal from his famous book,( ‘Bang-e-Dra)

Kali Se Keh Rahi Thi Aik Din Shabnam Gulistan Mein

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rahi Main Aik Muddat Ghuncha Haye Bagh-e-Rizwan Mein

English translation by the author;

One day the dew in the garden was saying to the flower bud

“I lived for a long time among the flower buds of Paradise.”

2. Tumhare Gulistan ki Kaifiat Sarshar Hai Aesi

Nigah Firdous Dar Daman Hai Meri Chashm-e-Heeran Mein

Translation by the poet:

The condition of your garden is so elegant,

The Paradise’s sight is concealed in my bewildered eye.

I have borrowed these two verses from” Phoolon Ki Shahzadi”  The princess of flowers(Bang-e-Dra)