Daily Prompt: Exhale

Tell us about a time when everything seemed to be going wrong__ and then, suddenly you knew it would be all right.

I could not think of writing about everything going wrong in my life. I decided to write a fiction using this prompt.

Samina a twenty year old girl, made up her mind to leave Kolkata and go to Dhaka to continue her studies. Her eldest sister was living in Dhaka at that time.

She had a ready made residence waiting for her to live. Her sister and the nieces were delighted to have her, she was pleased as well.

Samina registered in the local university to continue her studies. Things were going well she became friends with one of her classmates.

At the end of the year, it was time for her first exam, she was not  ready for it. It would be wise not to sit for the exam. She knew she’d fail the exams,  and decided to repeat the course.

Next year she registered again for the same course, she continued neglecting her studies, this time it was worse she fell in love. Her friends noticed she spent all her time  writing letters to her boyfriend. As a result she was unprepared for the exam at the end of the year. This time she sat for the exam and fortunately passed but  was last in her class.

She registered for the second year course. Her sister found out about her love affair and tried to discourage her. She was afraid if her parents knew about her boyfriend, they would make her go back to Kolkata.She thought the only way to avoid her sister and her parents’ interference in her  life,  it would be best for her  to move to the University residence.

She started her courses, but her mind was elsewhere, as a result she failed the final exam.

She quit school, her parents were informed about her love affair. They felt it was better she got married, she’d be happy.

After months of preparation the date for the wedding was  settled. Invitation cards were sent  out to friends and relatives for the big day. Exactly a week before the wedding, Samina received a letter from her future husband.  He wrote:

Dear Samina,

I am sorry I cannot marry you. I have decided to marry another woman, my sin for not marrying you, would be far greater if I don’t marry her.

Samina’s world fell apart, she did not expect such an outcome. Everything went wrong for her.

Her parents and her siblings hoped that her fate would change for the better some day, that this was a lesson, she’ll learn from it and  hopefully will be all right.

…………………………………………….:)

 

 

Daily Prompt: Brainwave

 

What’s the better idea you’ve ever had? Regale us every detail of the idea_ the idea itself,where it came to you, and the problem it solved.

The best idea I ever had was when my friend Robert started blogging, and I wanted to find out what blogging was and could I try it as well. I asked my good friend, he encouraged me and said, he was thinking of telling me to pick up the craft of blogging.

In the beginning there were a few roadblocks I had to deal with. For instance what can I write about, another friend stepped in and suggested it would be a neat idea if I translated Tagore’s poems. I was thrilled but had to tread cautiously. Yes I knew the language as it happened to be my mother tongue, there was a ‘but’ factor lingering in my brain.

Was I capable of taking a risk like that. I did not admit I was scared, at heart I was. This task was not easy, I had no experience translating.

I started with a short one and slowly I was feeling confident. I translated several poems and my friend encouraged me all along.

From time to time I found other things to do. I discovered the every day daily post. I read the prompts and began to write.

From prompts I went to five sentence fiction writing. Each week we were given a one word prompt, we were expected to write a story based on the prompt.I wrote stories for a while. It was discontinued.

I looked for other things to do. I joined the 101 writing course offered by WordPress. It lasted for four weeks. I loved it, I was able to keep myself busy.

The recent poetry course offered by WordPress was one I loved the most. I loved to read, recite memorize poetry, I did not have the experience of writing it.

I’m glad I joined blogging , I’m gaining experience writing things I haven’t done before.

…………………………….. 🙂

 

 

Blogging 101,Day one: Introduce yourself to the world

Today’s assignment: Write and publish a “who am I and why I’m here” post on your blog.

My name is Ranu, I am a Bengali from Bangladesh. My Father was Abdus Sabeth and my mother was Tahira Khatun. I am my parents seventh child.

In my country we all have two names, one is used at home and among relatives and the other is used outside home i.e school , certificates. It’s considered a formal name.

Like others in my homeland I too have two names, Ranu is my nick name and Chaman is my name which is used in my certificates and other documents.

When I started blogging I felt comfortable using Ranu as my user name.It’s short and easy to pronounce.

I studied in schools where the medium of instruction was English. I was able to take my mother tongue  Bengali as one of the subjects .

I am blogging publicly because it motivates me to write. Before becoming a blogger, I did not write a personal journal, I did not think about it and was not interested.

My blog’s focus is mainly on writing fiction, sometimes I like writing recipes, I also like translating poems and song lyrics of Rabindranath Tagore. He was a famous Bengali poet. I enjoy reading his poems listening to his songs and translating them, my aim is to let other bloggers enjoy Tagore’s poetry and songs, which is why I like translating them.

There are a few sports, I am interested to watch, one of them is Tennis and other is Ice Hockey, especially when my favorite team  or my favorite player is playing.

In Tennis my favorite players are  Roger Federer among men and Maria Sharapova among women. If they lose early in tournaments, I’m disappointed and lose my interest.

I love cooking spicy food, and have posted some recipes on my blog.

I’m also participating in online courses since 2011, it is the study of Allama Iqbal one of Pakistan’s most favorite and well-known poet and Philosopher. It is offered by Khurram Ali Shafique, he has devoted a long time studying about Iqbal and is the perfect facilitator for all of us.

Lastly I’d like to write about  my blog name  Sabethville, I  used my father’s last name Sabeth and added ville to it.

I hope to meet a lot of other bloggers and also read their posts.

…………………………………….. 🙂

365 Writing Prompts: Too big to fail

Tell us about something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail( and tell us why you haven’t tried it yet).

After all the writing prompts I’m doing I wish to try to write a book. I lack motivation and confidence which to me is essential if I actually make myself write.

There are varied  problems associated with such an endeavor, what will I write a fiction or a non-fiction? My thoughts favor fiction and if I do all right, I’d move to other subjects. I know it’s easier said than done.

At the moment I’m keeping my options open.

………………………………………:)

Five sentence fiction: Changes

A unique person 🙂

I’ve met countless people in my life, never had the pleasure of meeting someone like Alice, one moment she’d laugh like a lunatic, you turn around and find her crying, I never quite know what to think of her.

One day she showed interest in Mike, poor Mike is simple there is nothing complicated in his life, he prefers to have things as they are, I knew Mike  since he was a toddler, I didn’t think Alice was his type, when she asked me about him I just said, “Mike is just Mike there are no frills in his thought or action.”

Alice insisted I introduce them,I tried to get out of it but she was relentless, reluctantly I introduced them, they liked each other, they were out for coffee, movies , I saw them everywhere, I wondered how was this possible, Alice was with Mike for the seventh day, I was happy one of them liked to alter, s/h life.

It was Monday morning I noticed Mike was alone, I was curious I asked him about Alice, Mike’s face was red he murmured something then he looked at me ready to pounce, “It’s your fault” he said, you shouldn’t have introduced me to that eccentric.”

I gave him a look of dismay, he ignored my look and said, “Did you know she is crazy?’

DP Daily Prompt: Morton’s Fork

If you had to choose between able, to write a blog( but not read others’) and being able to read others’ blogs( but not write your own), which would you pick? Why?

Honestly speaking,I will choose neither.

The style of writing of every one is different, their choice of words, their likes and dislikes, how they feel about something or anything gives me the kind of motivation I can never get just by writing.

Which brings up the following,Why do we read a variety of books?Do we read for pleasure only or do we learn from it? If I were to answer this question, I’d say we get pleasure and knowledge by reading books. The knowledge can be as simple as increasing my vocabulary, it can be to improve my writing.

If I just write and do not read, whether it’s fiction non-fiction or even a blog, I’m withholding my chances to be a better writer.

Reading others’ work opens up a lot of possibilities, of learning, increasing my vocabulary, the art of writing and there are so many things!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/dp-daily-prompt-mortons-fork/

DP Daily Prompts: Pleased to Meet You

Write a post in which two protagonists of two different books meet for the first time. How do the react to each other? Do they get along?

My protagonists are : Alice from, “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland”, the second one is Saroo ,from, ” A Long Way From Home.”

This is  their first encounter, they have never heard of each other, I introduced them as Alice from, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Saroo from ,”A long Way from Home.” Here fiction and non-fiction make a go at each other.

Alice is a little girl with blonde hair reaching to her shoulders while Saroo is a little boy with short black hair, under weight and poor. At five Saroo looked after his little sister, while Alice was a beautifully dressed, healthy and curious girl. Saroo’s curiosity was limited to his family members Alice was in an advantageous position, she was fortunate enough to go wherever she pleased.

Let us see how they react when they are introduced:

“Alice meet Saroo,” I said.

“Saroo,” Alice makes a face.:(

“Yes Alice I said, Saroo is from India, so his name is different from yours.”

Sensing that her reaction to the name was not well-received, Alice smiled, went a step closer to shake hands with Saroo, little Saroo who  hadn’t seen a white girl before, moved back a few steps.

I was given the task of introducing them it wasn’t working out, I realized they do not know each other’s language, so I explained to Saroo first in his language which is Hindi, then did the same with Alice in English.

They seemed to understand so I let them introduce each other.

Alice was not shy she laughed and said, “Hi, I am Alice”, she extended her hand and both shook hands.

Saroo hesitantly said in Hindi, “namaste, mera naam Saroo hai, barhi khushi hui aap se mil ker.”( my name is Saroo, I am happy to meet you).

I was glad the introduction went well.

Alice took Saroo to a “Mad Tea Party”, Saroo was shy and unable to understand the conversation between Alice and the Mad Hatter, but although five he was smart enough to show a beaming face.

Alice tried to impress Saroo by talking to the three at the party, poor Saroo could not comprehend why this white girl is talking to these strange animals, he could not express himself because there was a language barrier.

At the end of the day Alice was pleased to meet her new friend, who was so sweet and docile. She promised to meet him again and teach him her language,so they could interact with each other!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/01/18/dp-daily-promp…se-to-meet-you/

365 Writing Prompts: To boldly go…..

An impending new year gives rise to reflection and goal setting.What will your goals for 2015 be? It’s never too early to start thinking about self improvement!

As 2014 is coming to an  end I’m thinking of some of the positive and negative things that I was faced with.

First the positive, it’s a year when I was able to continue with the WordPress prompts. I admit I have learned a lot . I’ve trained my mind to think, I feel I have done a fair job, by this I mean there is room for improvement.

I also enjoyed writing five minute fiction by Lillie. At first I wasn’t sure how it will work out for me, I have a few bloggers who read my stories and write their comments, I am grateful to them, their continued support keeps me motivated.

In the home front my progress is almost nil. I wanted to fix the basement I haven’t been able to do so.

I’m keeping up with the online course, I do run into problems now and then, it’s not the course itself there are other things that are not so enjoyable.

Before 2015 knocks at my door, I’d like to take care of the things that I was unable to do in 2014. I must realize I cannot take care of everything as soon as possible, the moment this thought hits me I’ll do the same as I did in 2014,nothing, it is a lesson I need to learn.

To improve my writing I should put in a lot more time, to do well.

I’m also thinking of utilizing more time to photography. This is one area where I have not done anything to get better.

I intend to continue with the online course and ignore negative things that upset me.

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/365-writing-pr…s-to-boldly-go

 

 

DP Daily Prompts: The Great Divide

When reading for fun, do you usually choose fiction or non-fiction?  Do you have an idea why you prefer one over the other?

Most of the time fiction helps me relax, provided the story interests me. Recently I  read two books both were fiction,one was about a dog’s journey and the second one was about heart beats.

After reading these two books I felt great, I couldn’t help thinking about the dog, how faithful he was, the other one was the story of two wonderful people, how they met, their affection towards each other was magical.

Next I read a non-fiction, it was about the life of a little boy, how poor his family was, how he managed to get adopted when he was lost. It was amazing to know he was only five years old when he was adopted, was taken to Australia by the couple.

His life with the Australian couple was completely different from the one he had when he was with his birth mother and his real siblings. This boy proved though he was living a luxurious life in Australia he did not forget his birth mother and his siblings.

It took him twenty-five years to find his mother and siblings.

The best part is, it was written by the boy himself  after he grew up.I like both fiction and non-fiction.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/dp-daily-promp…e-great-divide/

 

Fiction: Secure

Susan took her two and a half year old baby to preschool, the teacher assured her she’d be fine, there was no reason to worry.

She let go of her baby from her arms to Mrs.Locke’s, wondering if she was doing the right thing, the sudden cry of the baby, unnerved her, she turned around and walked towards the door, praying everything will work out.

Before leaving the yard she went to the door to see, there was her baby quietly sitting on the chair, coloring.

While at home she counted the hours, when  she’d walk back to bring her little one home.

To her surprise her baby was playing with her newly made friends, she felt a tear rolling  down her cheek, her baby wasn’t waiting to pick her up, she was secure with Mrs. Locke!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/fiction-secure