Daily Prompt: Ebb and Flow

Our blogs morph over time , as interests shift and life happens.Write a post for your blog_  but three years in the future.

Three years from now, what will happen I cannot tell. If I get bored with the look of my website. I will change a few things here and there. I’ll include more photographs of nature, people, places and sports.

I will continue to write poems and short stories.

I will have a food post every week,these will be foods I love to eat and cook.

For now this is all I’m thinking about.

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Writing 101,day fourteen: Recreate a single day

Assignment: Recreate a single day

You can tackle this assignment in a number of ways:

Start in the middle of the action and zig  zag through time from the moment you woke up to the last thing that happened before you retired for the night.

I heard something as if in my sleep, noticed the sound was persistent,I opened my eyes to check what it was so harsh in sound with no sweetness in it. I looked at the clock, it was 5 AM, I realized I set the alarm to wake up for morning prayer.

I woke up washed and got ready for my usual activity of the day i.e. prayer. I was thankful someone invented the clock to wake up lazy people like me.

Twenty five minutes later my first activity of the day was done. I had breakfast, which is nothing special, two crackers,lathered by peanut butter and a cup of tea.

I turned on the computer to remind myself of day thirteen writing assignment, compose a series of vignettes, this wasn’t something I was familiar with.What kind of anecdote will I write, then it seemed my inner voice whispered, “Why don’t you write about your pilgrimage to Mecca(Makkah)?”

I was thrilled to have a lasting companion who talks to me when I need help. I gathered all the information in my mind, I had no photographs to show the places, we are not allowed to use cameras. But I assumed ‘Wikipedia’ could be helpful. And it was, I got the pictures I needed.

After putting together all the information, I was ready to hit the publish button and link my post to the commons.

I was relieved I had my assignment done. what was I going to do next was troubling me. “Go for a walk was the instruction.”

I got ready and stepped out the back door, on my way out I checked the mailbox, there it was the visa bill, since I was out , I changed my plan of going for a walk to take a bus ride to the bank. There weren’t that many people in there, I was served almost immediately.

It was a sunny bright day, I walked  to the ‘Supermarket’ to buy a few things for supper.It didn’t take me long, I had a lot of time left, I walked over to the bus stop to go to the mall. I waited fifteen minutes, there were wasps flying all over and I was not happy to see them. In came a young woman with three bags of groceries,the scent of her food items attracted the attention of one measly wasp, it came right in the covered bus stop and buzzed around her.Before this incidence I wasn’t aware the wasps like our kind of food. Maybe there were not enough flowers for them.

Somehow the young woman got rid of the lonely wasp and everything was fine.

In the mean time the bus showed up, I was on board in search of a tape recorder in a store in the mall. They do not carry them was the verdict. I came home.

I fed the felines, then had lunch and started cooking cauliflower and then chicken. With the cooking done I took a shower and waited for my daughter to arrive. She came at 5 PM, supper was ready. She was happy she didn’t have to wait for it.

In the evening I wanted to relax and have some entertainment. I turned on the TV watched ‘wheel of fortune’ followed by ‘jeopardy’ I was tired enough ,  I went  straight to bed!

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Daily Prompt: Red Pill,Blue Pill

If you could get all the nutrition in a day with a pill… no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation— would you do it?

The kind of joy I feel preparing food I eat, the spices I use, the different recipes I choose is the reason I will never replace preparing and cooking food, with a pill, be it red or blue.

Each day brings about a new way of eating the same meat, fish, and vegetables. Some days I like to spice up my meat, chicken or even simple vegetables, to change my taste for food. A pill cannot do that,it sounds boring .

Yesterday I prepared lentil soup, I used two kinds of lentils, onions, spices , oil and salt, I even used tomatoes as one of the ingredients to see if it tastes better with or without it. I’m always changing my recipe so it’s not the same recipe day in and day out. I consider it my privilege. If I settle for pills, I’d swallow one in the morning,one in the afternoon and one for dinner. And my total calories are taken care of, or are they?

Then there are these shops where they sell fruits and vegetables, what will happen to them, they will be out of jobs or business.

The only people who will be working would be the pharmacists and scientists. I wouldn’t put so much faith in them. I like to be free,  independent and not dependent on these experts. It’s bad enough they prepare our health pills, which after a certain period is declared  unsafe. What happens when the Red and Blue pills meet the same fate?

I do not think I can risk my health just because I’d be able to sit around and have hours of leisure,it does not appeal to me! 😦

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Daily Prompt: West End Girls

Every city and town contains people of different classes: rich, poor, and somewhere between. What’s it like where you live? If it’s difficult for you to discern and describe the different types of classes in your locale, Describe what it was like where you grew up … was it swimming pool and movie stars, industrial and working class, somewhere in between or something completely different?

Where I live right now it’s difficult to tell between:rich, poor or somewhere in between. Where I grew up everything was clear cut.

If you were rich you had a chauffeur driven car, more servants than kids, and every day was a day resembling Christmas. There was no shortage of food. Leftover was an unknown term. The rich always ate fresh cooked meal prepared by chefs. There was one thing which was very strange. The servants were not offered the same food as the masters. The menu for the servants was different, it was not anything delicious but lentil soup and rice. The servants were happy to get that.

Moving on to middle class i.e the in-between. They lived a restricted life, they had servants but one or maximum two. They did not have cars, rickshaws were the mode of transportation for them, it was cheaper and the people used them to get to work, school, shopping or visiting friends. They dressed accordingly, ‘they cut their coat according to the cloth.’

There were two groups of poor people, ones who earned their living to feed themselves and their kids, they walked everywhere, their mode of transportation were their feet. They did not talk about poverty but seemed contented.

The other group of poor people were the ones who begged from door to door for food, money and clothes. On Fridays all the rich, and middle class people gave money , food and clothing to the beggars.They did not get clothing and food every Friday, but once a month. They did get money every Friday.

On special holidays such as the holiday after a month of Ramadan, the poor people were given clothes by the rich and middle class families.

On Eid al azha another important Muslim festival, this day animals were slaughtered, depending on how much a family can afford, the rich and the ones who were slightly better off would sacrifice, a cow or two. The meat was then divided into three portions, one part was for the poor people, one for the friends and relatives, and the other part was for the families themselves.

Goats were sacrificed by the not so well-off middle class,because they were cheaper. The same thing was done with the meat it was divided into three portions and distributed to the people mentioned above.

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Daily Prompt: Celebrate Good Times

You have some wonderful, improbable, hoped-for good news. How do you celebrate?

This morning my friend Millie, called me, she said, “guess what Ranu your short stories is ready for publication, the publishers are eager to have an interview with you.”

At first I thought Millie is joking, she does that every now and then to tease me. The phone rang again, I picked it up this time it was the publisher himself, “hello, can I speak to Ranu?”

I jumped I replied “speaking.”

“I am Stuart from Stuart publishing company, we have selected your short stories for publication,can you come and see us.”

See us? This is the best news I’ve heard in days. I got ready and went to the company situated on Fleet Street. After a few minor discussions, Mr. Stuart handed me the contract.

I came home, called Millie, she came in a jiffy after discussing various ways to celebrate this awesome news, we settled for a fabulous tea party with family and friends in my home.

Millie volunteered to bake the cake, Anna wanted to bring her mom’s best pizza, I offered to make samosas, and gulab jamans.

I also ordered hot chicken wings from Boston Pizza.

We decided to have the party on  Saturday, to enable everyone to join us at the party. The party was in the afternoon, the girls came with all sorts of food, there were donuts, cookies and mouth watering pastries. All this added to the food we made, looked delightful. Millie’s four tiered cake stole the show.

The party started in the afternoon, I  had to taste everyone’s food, everything was delicious. We made so much noise, it was one of those days when we were in a celebratory mood, no one cared about the noise, after all days like this only comes once in a blue moon.

After the party I looked at the tables there was so much food left, I quickly put them in packages and handed one to each  guest on their way out!

Image from wikipedia

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Daily Prompt: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry………

__ for tomorrow we die.The world is ending tomorrow. Tell us about your last dinner—- the food—your dining companions, the setting, the conversation.

If I find out the world will end tomorrow, honestly food will not be what I’ll think of instead I’d gather the family around me, we’d ask each other to forgive us if we made each other unhappy. It will be the time for prayers, will try to spend time to do some good deeds hoping on the strength of our deeds we’ll be welcome to heaven. Once we’re there food will not be an issue, there’ll be plenty of it . I think we’ll be offered any kind of food we desire. What we must do is increase our good deeds.

There will be no conversation, but silent prayers in the house, the most important companions would be our close relatives.

This is how we’ll spend the last day in the world.

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365 Writing Prompts: Red pill, blue pill

If you could get all the nutrition you needed in a day with a pill –no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation–would you do it?

No I do not like the idea of substituting a pill for real food. There is a satisfaction of knowing, I know what ingredients I’m using to cook my food. Preparing food is not a chore for me I enjoy cooking , buying groceries, visiting a number of stores to get what I want. It is sheer pleasure for me.

As regards the pill I have my reservations, it was not that long ago a lot of people were excited with the idea of using a sugar substitute, now with research they’ve discovered it’s not that good after all,it’s a risk for cancer.

My belief is sugar is the real thing, if too much consumption of it can lead to diabetes or heart trouble, tooth decay, it’s better to give it up altogether rather than using a substitute.

I remember one of my classmates used a substitute for sugar in her tea, but had huge serving of dessert. I pointed out to her she wasn’t helping her body but exposing it too much sugar anyway and also by taking a sugar substitute she is taking a risk.

I do not believe in any pill to reduce my work. I’m in favor of real food.

……………………………..:)

365 Writing Prompts: Success

Tell us about a time where everything you’d hoped would happen actually did.

I cannot recall a time when I had hoped for anything. Every now and then, I’d tell my little brother , how I wished I could go to London to study. He and I knew it was something people like me, can dream of, but it would never become a reality.

I was once told by one of my profs. I should dream big only then I’ll be able to do well in life. Early in life the tragedy my family and I had to face was enough to make us feel, if we can be blessed with food each day and a decent shelter is all we could ask for. At that time I did not have any kind of ambition.

However my mom was a very pious woman, she must have prayed for us, day and night to be successful in life. I think it’s the only reason we were able to get a  good education.

When I was attending college in Dhaka city I was always concerned if my brothers were late in sending my fees. I went through this ordeal the whole time I was studying. I didn’t have the time to think of anything else. My mind was preoccupied with how many more years I’ll have to depend on my brothers.

The only time I was able to relax is when I received a scholarship to pursue my B.Ed. degree. I had the freedom to think of other things.

I still did not aim for anything out of the extraordinary,I just quietly hoped God would fulfill my wishes.

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365 Writing Prompts: The Satisfaction of a list

Who doesn’t have a list? So write one! Top five slices of pizza in your town,ten reasons why disco will never die, the three secrets to happiness—- go silly or go deep,just go list-y.

Three secrets to happiness: is health, good food, and lots of good friends of course.

Health is the most important thing for everyone. It makes you energetic, ready to conquer anything, keeps you contented, there is no fear of ill-health .

Good Food: is the key to good health, when you have food that agrees with your system, you have no fear of getting sick.

Good Friends: man is a social animal, he needs good friends, ones that gives him positive vibes, helps him to think of things that are beneficial to him to avoid depression.

In short when you are happy,you enjoy everything, the bright sun, the colorful flowers, the tasty fruits, the green, yellow, pink vegetables.

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https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/365-writing-pr…tion-of-a-list/

DP Daily Prompt:

The clock struck one, she awakened in a dark room, “where is everyone she thought?”

She was very sick all day, she fell asleep in her room, since it was broad daylight there was no need to turn on the lights.

No one called her for supper may be she complained of stomach sickness, her husband didn’t think she should eat. The quiet dark night scared her, she wondered if they left some food for her. She was faint with hunger, she wanted to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.It was pitch dark occasionally she heard the sound of a fox, which unnerved her senses, “is this creature in my house she was too terrified to think?”

She cautiously left her bed took slow measured steps, to avoid waking up the rest of her family. Something was not feeling normal, what might it be, she walked two steps stopped, listened, ‘thank God she said there is no one.’

Fear can always make one think of unusual things, like someone appearing before you unannounced, this was the feeling Shelley had as she walked into the kitchen. She was glad the fridge was not too far from her, she quickened her pace and reached the refrigerator, when she opened it there was a loud thud, some creature came out of it and started singing and dancing, with a pounding heart she immediately closed the door, she could not remember why she was there.

Lack of food made her weak the appearance of the creature was no help for her psyche, she went back to bed and kept praying so sleep would help her regain her composure.

Shelley wasn’t aware how long she slept, she felt someone shaking her and saying, “Wake  up you sleepy head it’s time for breakfast.”

The word “Breakfast” brought uncontrollable tears in her eyes, oh how she hoped she could eat something, anything, with a growling stomach Shelley went into the dining room, the table was set with all kinds of delicious food prepared by her husband Sam. Before she started to eat she asked, “did you hear that terrible thud last night?”

“What thud they all said at once!”

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: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/dp-daily-prompt-8