Daily Prompt: Yin to My Yang

How do you define the term “soulmate,” and do you believe in the existence of such a person_ for you?

A soulmate is a person with whom one shares an interest,passion, or bond,esp.a friend or spouse.

I do not believe such a person exists for me. My spouse and I did not have the same interests. We got along fine but our interests and passions were different. I loved music, he did too but not the same kind.

I had a passion for Novels, make-believe stories he liked to read about stocks and bonds, different investments, how to make money. I wasn’t interested in these things.

I studied History, he studied Medicine, as far as the studies go our paths were different.

I have friends and they are very good to me as I am to them, this is where the similarities stop.

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Writing 101#3: One -Word inspiration

Prompts come in many different forms. Sometimes a single word is all you need to get your mind’s wheels turning. Here are six words:

Treasure

Regret

Home

Love

Uncertainty

Secret

Select one word in this list that speaks to you in some way.Have you always wanted to write about that wrong decision you made? Are you a long-term traveler looking for the right city to settle? Do you want to write about your relationship?

Regret is the word I feel speaks to me.

Although I think I’ve made right decisions in my life, my mind tells me I did not. Not working hard enough in primary and high school is one of the regrets, I have. I did not try to see what I could have accomplished if I were a little more careful in my studies earlier in life. I was happy getting passing grades without making any sincere efforts.

It is said,”Time and tide waits for no one” I heard it several times, I even loved repeating it. What I did not do is take a closer look and find out what message was  I getting from these few words.

I wanted to have a good education, I knew this was what  my parents wanted. I did accomplish this ambition. Still something tells me I should have listened to my uncle, who once told me, “Ranu you should study Philosophy.” I heard what he said but didn’t care enough to know what the subject was all about. I studied History instead, maybe I was good in remembering dates, which probably is  the reason why I opted to study   History.

Now when I look back I feel I did not make the right decision. When I read about Philosophers I find so much joy knowing, how they  entertained us with their knowledge and are continuing to do so despite the fact they are no longer among the living.

I have realized what I could have done when I was a student, the fact that I didn’t makes me unhappy sometimes.

I am happy  I got the opportunity to study about Iqbal  through online courses and Tagore,when I started blogging. Both were great philosophers in their time!

Dear participants and blogger friends, I’d love to get your feedback about my post. Thank you!

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DP Daily Prompts: On Bees And Effs

Do you or did you ever –have a Best Friend? do you believe in the idea of one person whose friendship matters the most? Tell us a story of your BFF( or a lack thereof.

I do have a best friend, it just happened I wasn’t looking for one. I am not sure I believed in the idea of having a BFF.

I met her in the university, she enrolled a year before me in the post graduate course in History, she opted not to write the first year exam because she felt she was not prepared . She repeated the course, I met her then. By nature I’m very quiet when in a public place as in the university. My silence was mistakenly read as, ‘I am a very proud person’.

Her name is Mini, she comes from a wealthy family, in contrast my parents were not rich, my Dad was a civil servant who had a 9 to 5 job.

I am not a very social person, therefore I do not make friends easily. How she and I became friends is strange. One day she volunteered to go with me to the library, it surprised me, she didn’t strike me as someone studious. Anyway her reason was to let me know about our other classmate. Mini was one of those people who believed her classmates should share their notes with each other, it wasn’t the case with this person, she complained, I listened. She also wanted to find out what sort of a person was I, she was not disappointed I shared all of my notes.

We were room-mates also in the dormitory, we became friends, she took me to her sister’s house, she had another sister who sent cooked food for us, we were having a great time. Our friendship was stronger, I was invited by her sisters whenever they had a party. Things went well we saw each other regularly.

I had to move to Canada after I got married, we didn’t write to each other, our friendship did not end, lack of correspondence with each other drifted us apart. I do visit her when I go to Dhaka, we have long conversation, she is still as nice as she was the first time I met her!

//sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/dp-daily-promp…-bees-and-effs/

 

Blogging challenge: Letter T

Tagore Iqbal and Tennyson

I bless them for a reason

They wrote volumes of poetry

To teach mankind some history

All their efforts proved futile!

 

Tommy Tuttle followed them closely

Tootsie and Trina didn’t

Take him seriously

Tommy left the town  disgusted

I don’t want this lesson repeated!

 https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/blogging-challenge-letter-t

 

 

DP Daily Prompt: Something So Strong

My best friend Mini was born and raised in Kolkata. She completed her undergraduate degree from kolkata university. Her parents sent her to Dhaka,Bangladesh for further studies. She took admission in Dhaka university to study M.A in History. She dropped a year because she felt she was not ready to do her exam. She registered again hoping to do better.

Fresh from completing my under graduate degree I registered in Dhaka university to study History. This is where I met her. She came from a wealthy family, which is why I kept my distance. I had a preconceived notion that rich young people are too conceited to make friends with ones who are not as wealthy as them. I kept that firm belief and was not eager to extend my hand in friendship.

I was in my own world studying, going to the library taking notes, coming back in the residence to read my notes. Mini never showed any enthusiasm to study. She was my classmate,I was happy to leave it at that.

One day out of the blue moon she asked me if she could go to the library with me. I agreed ,she came along with me, I did what I always do, took out some of the books to read and write my notes. I opened one of my books, she stopped me in the middle,she said she had something to discuss with me.

I was curious, I stopped and asked her to go ahead. The words that came out of her mouth surprised me. She said she and my other classmate were talking about me, she said, “Why is this girl so proud, who does she think she is?”

In reply I said,”What made you think I am conceited?”

She came to this conclusion because I hardly spoke. “I am always  quiet in the middle of strangers, I am shy and most of the time I have nothing to say.”

I don’t know if this information about me was enough for her to know I am quiet if I don’t know a person.

As the days and months were passing by we talked more to each other and became friends. She finally told me why she chose to stay in the residence.

She fell in love with a Prof.in the university, her older sister was not supportive, mainly because the guy was not trustworthy. Mini moved out of her sister’s house to the residence so she could see the Prof. Here she was uncomfortable knowing some of the girls open other students’ mail. She asked me if that were the case. I had no idea I hardly got any mail except when my brother sent me my tuition fees.

Mini was concerned, I asked her was there anyone she knew where her mail would come could be delivered, she said she had a friend whose younger sister was a student in the university. It worked out fine.

Mini became my best friend, she took me to her sisters’ homes, her family knew me and liked me. I went to study B.ed., in a different university, while I was away her relationship with the  Prof. ended. She was miserable for a while.

She found a very nice man, whom she  married. I attended her wedding. She was very helpful to me she always sent her driver to pick me up if I needed to go somewhere.

Although we do not write to each other, we continue to be good friends. Yes our friendship is solid,we understand each other and will stay that way no matter how far away we live from each other!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/prompt-something-so-strong/

DP Daily Prompt:Fifteen Minutes

I will talk about world peace:

History tells us no one country can rule forever. They are victors today and vanquished tomorrow. These are  the facts of life. We have read about the rise and fall of Empires,such as Mughal,Ottoman,Roman,British and the list goes on.

Our leaders are trying to find solutions to the problems that beset our planet, but so far it’s only a dream and nothing else. If each of us can set aside our selfish motives and work towards a common goal of a peaceful world, we can achieve it. When we think of world peace we forget that our contribution is necessary, but we have used our mouths and not our souls. We can begin by thinking about how are we treating our brothers, neighbors – the answer lies within us.

Philosophers and poets – past and present have written volumes on how we should treat each other. We must ask ourselves, “what is world peace?”.  Some think it is the resolution of conflict, others think the absence of hunger and poverty.  I believe it is a combination of wrongs that must be righted –  if we can work towards social justice in our corner of the world, we can make peace happen in our world.

I am a student of an online course offered by the Iqbal Academy. The course discusses the writings of Iqbal, an Indian philosopher and poet.  Although he did not call himself a poet, he wrote volumes of poetry.  His aim was to have a place on earth,which he called Marghdeen, where the inhabitants would live in peace. There would be no army, no government, no beggars or thieves – it would be an egalitarian world where no conflict was bred from the inherent imbalances of a stratified society.

Here is the beauty of this place: no army means no fighting. No government eliminates the difference of opinion of a handful of people who are at liberty to decide  fate of the citizens,whether they liked it or not.There is no ill-feeling  , where the citizens can live in peace.His ideas if adopted today will help us to know  the direction we must take to achieve our goal.

If we can remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  If we live in harmony with each other,we can have world peace. There will be no reason to build nuclear arms to use against each other.Think of it this way,there are countries who possess them and if they  use these weapons against each other,there will be no world left to have peace.

The World Peace monument in a pond next to a statue of the Buddha on a lotus in Swayambhunath temple site, Kathmandu, Nepal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thank you for listening.

DP Daily Prompt: Fly On The Wall Post by Ranu

English: Rabindranath Tagore ,Tamilndu,India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If I could be a fly on the wall,I would choose the year 1941,in Kolkata,India.  This was the year when Tagore was on his death bed. He was unable to write the words of his poem.He was too weak. His mind was thinking of poetry.He called one of his attendants and dictated the poems that were coming to him.

I would like to see how the poet was able to think of poetry in his death bed.Also the person who wrote it down.It is believed the poet checked the words.He wanted it to be perfect. I would love to be there.This is part of history where I’d be able to witness,the poet’s last days.

About Me: Still in School posted by Ranu

Journal of Contemporary History (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I successfully completed my under graduate degree. My aim was to study Economics. My sister discouraged me. She thought I was not a serious student and Economics was a tough subject, her advice was study ‘English Literature’ this was when I finally put my foot down.    ‘No I said I’ll study History’. I got my way.The next on my list was to choose between:Contemporary History,Architectural or Museum,I leaned towards Architecture but couldn’t,there were not enough books I could get,same was the case with Museum History. I reluctantly took Contemporary History.

One of my Professors was a very strange individual. Whenever he passed by us,he wouldn’t let us wish him good morning or afternoon,he would just turn his head the other way. Whenever we saw him coming towards us we’d do the same he did to us.This particular day he wanted to scold me for reason unknown to me. He looked right at me and said,  ‘I want to talk to you’ I was alarmed what can he talk to me about? There was no introduction of any sort, he said, ‘Do You Know What Your Problem Is,you jump from one group to another’,it is true I changed courses but I had a legitimate reason for doing so. Like a judge he  gave his verdict and off he went. Another more kind professor said, ‘You had a better chance to get ‘First Class’ if you studied Architectural History,you have lost your chance.It so happens that all the honours graduates had taken Contemporary History since I didn’t,they were the ones eligible.  They give first class to honours graduates and they pick only one,I had no chance.I really didn’t care.

I successfully completed my degree. As Tagore would say, ‘ This is the conclusion of my story and with it the dancing  plant is chopped off’.

Bye to all my followers it was fun writing about me.I sincerely hope I didn’t bore any of you.Thank you.

Ranu