Discover Prompts, Day 17: Distance

My first experience happened when I was seven. My father told us we’ll leave New Delhi, I was the curious one, I didn’t waste time asking, ‘why Abba we’d have to leave and where are we going?’

To Rawalpindi was his reply, he was transferred from Delhi to Rawalpindi. We arrived by train. It was a long journey, I was tired and hoped we’d arrive at the strange place in a jiffy. My dream did not come true, I had to endure the journey, where there were several stops. Eventually we reached our destination.

My Dad was concerned about our school. He was told the best school in the city was Presentation Convent. My older sister was given the responsibility of looking after my admission.

After registration one of my teachers took me to the classroom where I was introduced to the teacher who was my homeroom teacher.

There was one thing I enjoyed in this school was Music. The teacher taught us a lot of songs, one of my favourite was the song, “In Derry Vale.”

Many years have passed, I still remember this song. I knew the lyrics, I did not pay attention to the meaning, I enjoyed singing it quietly in a corner of my house.

After all these years I paid attention to the lyrics and realized why the tune of the song was so sad.

I will write a part of the song to let the reader understand why this song is my favourite here it is :

In Derry Vale Beside the Singing River,

So Oft I strayed Ah many years ago

And culled at morn the golden daffodillies

That came with Spring To set the world Aglow,

Oh Derry vale my thoughts are ever turning

To your broad stream and fairy circles lea

For your green isles my exiled heart is yearning

So far away across the sea.

I feel for those nuns who left their home in Ireland, to come to teach in a place so far away from their homeland.

I know now how it feels to be in a place which is so far away from my original homeland. There are so many things I miss which I cannot experience because of the distance.

No one forced me to leave my home, I made the decision myself. The song reminds me, I too think of how far away I am from the green fields, and the innocent people who live there!

Writing 101, Day 17: Things we leave behind

Writing 101, Day 17: Mine your own material or : Things we leave behind: Tell us about a time you’ve left an object, place,person, or even an idea behind_ and had to move on.

As I couldn’t mine my material, for there wasn’t much I wanted to write about. I  therefore chose to write about memories of a place we left behind, not because it was our wish to do so, but cruel  fate  ordained it for us.

I had just turned twelve when everything was going wrong, the place we loved the most, turned its back on us, it was no longer feasible to hold on to it.

My eldest brother and my mom decided it was time for us to leave Rawalpindi and go to my parents original country Bangladesh.

It was not only the city, but the house, the garden, the three majestic Eucalyptus trees we had to say goodbye to. None of these things belonged to us, we were tenants, but we  loved them and wanted to stay there  forever.

Our time was up, memories of that city, the house , the garden , the trees is still fresh in my mind,as if it was only yesterday we played, we walked all around the house, went to the nearby race course to watch the horse races and were  rooting for our gardener cum jockey’s white horse.In the beginning it was  leading the pack and suddenly  we saw all the other horses were leaping forward, and our favorite horse came last.

Disappointment was written all over our faces, when the gardener came to work next morning. I had too many questions he had to answer, he took the easy way out. It was not his fault, the owner instructed him to slow down. He tried to make it simple for me, I was a kid who refused to understand that the owner would do such a thing. These things although in the past brings back memories of our joyful days, and joy is always followed by sorrow. This unfortunately is the fact of life!

 

………………………..:)