Writing 101- Prompt-3

Write about three most important songs in your life– what do they mean to you?

I have a lot of songs in my mind and they all mean a lot to me. I sing quietly at times when I am sad, some give me the strength to forget my worries and move on, others make me happy.

To me songs have a unique reaction for me it calms my mind when someone hurts my feelings, I can spend hours listening to songs that are uplifting.

Here is one that I love,: Thank you Allah!

I am ready to commit to a writing practice, this is my first writing practice:

I woke up at 5am to pray .After spending an hour,I felt sleepy, I told myself I’ll wake up at 7 am but ended up sleeping longer. I got dressed to get ready to go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I always have porridge for breakfast, one of these days I’d be so sick of it I’ll never look at it.For now I am religiously eating it.

I came back to my room to turn on my computer hoping someone remembers me and will write a nice email to me, but no luck . I’m writing this twist as they call it for fifteen minutes. I may pick up “Atlas Shrugged ” to read .The part I started reading was very interesting, Dagny is quite the brave woman, going to a little diner, I don’t think I would,then again I’m scared of everything, even when a dog barks I think it will bite me. How foolish you’d say, but I have my reason,I was chased by a bunch of dogs when I was six, only because I was carrying a little note for my sister’s friend.

What can I say about my big sister she is such a bully, if you don’t listen to her she’d scream your ears off, do I want to hear her scream, no would you, her voice is so shrill. I tell you she’s no Julie Andrews , the hills won’t come alive when she sings, they’ll disappear.

She used to tell me I’ll never be anything because I did not spend my time with a book like she did.Now that i think about it I bet she did not study all thjose times she had a book in front of her. I know she did not want to do any chores around the house, so Mom thought her sweet old daughter is so studious.

Mom thought Ranu never looks at a book, she’s the one who should do all the chores, she won’t be as learned as the big daughter. Guess what I proved her wrong, I got as many degrees as she did, not only that, I have one more.

………………

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/writing-101-prompt-3/

 

365 Writing Prompts:

When I think about childhood I must admit they were the best years of my life. I grew up in a large family, Mom was a fabulous cook,Dad was busy with his work. He had a very important 8 to 6 job.

We were very disciplined, school was from 6 to 4. I went to school on the  school bus. I was picked up at 6 in the morning and dropped off at 4 pm. Our teachers were strict there was no room to fool around, tasks had to be completed on time or there was tons of homework, unfinished school work and regular homework.

We had supper as soon as Dad was home. My Dad was a fussy eater, everything Mom cooked had to be perfect or he wouldn’t eat. If any of the ingredients in the food was slightly more he’d call me and tell me to give it my Mom to eat. I was very young ,I never understood the sarcasm, I’d happily take the food to Mom. One such day the meat Mom cooked was not according to my Dad Up to standard.

As usual he instructed me to take it for my Mom , I thought Dad was generous, as soon as I said, “Mom Dad wants you to eat this.”

I felt all hell would break loose, Mom was unimpressed, she yelled something which I did not understand. Once my Mom put too much onion in one of the dishes, Dad called me and said in his sweetest voice, “Ranu ask your Mom if the onion is cheaper these days.”

I knew why he said it, I wasn’t going to ask Mom about the price of onion.

One might wonder why Ranu was doing all this chore, what about the older siblings and the servants. Well none of the siblings or the servants wanted to face Dad when he was in a devilish mood. So Ranu was the one everyone depended on, I wasn’t fond of this duty but like Shakespeare’s character Andrew Aguecheek , it was thrust upon me, I could not complain, I stayed away from Mom’s anger.

As far as music goes we were prohibited from listening to any kind of music, because my Dad thought it would distract us from our studies. He never bought a radio,for this reason.

Once my sister told Dad Ranu can sing quite well, I was summoned by my Dad, when Dad called you had to be there, so I went with a heart beating out of my chest,thinking what was I guilty of.

It turned out he heard I can sing, he was all smiles, “Ranu can you sing a song for me, I will give you money?”

I was very shy singing in front of Dad was unthinkable, besides money was not an attraction, the moment my two older brothers found out I had money, they would make me give it to them. I declined to sing.

I’ve probably presented a very gloomy picture of my childhood, it wasn’t,  nothing could match the wonderful time I had in my early childhood.

…………………….

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/365-writing-prompts-2/

DP Daily Prompts: My Hero

Who’s your Hero? Tell us a story about why that person plays such an important role in your life.

After my father passed away, my mother took care of us, she cooked for us, she kept our house in order. She looked after our needs and made sure we had everything, i.e, clothes,books,  and a safe environment.

My Dad left sufficient funds in my mother’s name. My mother used some of the money to buy  a house in Comilla, it’s a small town in Bangladesh, we grew up there.

My mom was a very religious lady, she told me stories of the Prophet, and taught all of us that we must never tell a lie. A lie is never forgiven by God unless our life is in danger.

She reminded us that if we  do not like someone we  must never talk behind his/her back.

She was a very kind lady, the beggars who came to our house called her Ma, my mother fed them when they asked for food.

One evening someone came to our house and said, “Ma please give me some food.”

My mom immediately sent the food for this person, she was curious she knew no one comes this late in the evening and asks for food, out of curiosity she opened the door to see who it was, she was surprised to see the rickshaw driver eating, when she asked him why he begged for food at that hour, he said he finished his job , he was hungry, he knew if he came to our house my mom will give him something to eat.

My mom had a very important role in our lives, she was always there when we needed her. She filled the role of a Mom and a Dad.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/dp-daily-prompts-my-hero

 

365 Writing Prompts : Mad as a hatter

Tell us about the time you flew into a rage. What is it that made you so incredibly angry?

My mom loved collecting, attractive glasses and china. When I was in the university in Dhaka I found a crockery store, they had the most beautiful china and glasses.

I bought a few glasses and china for my mom from that store, my mom was so happy to see them ,I thought it was the best thing I did to put a smile on my mother’s face.

Mom had a china cabinet, she proudly put the china ware I gave her. I went back to school and planned to buy some more, mom would have a nice collection I felt.

When I went home to Comilla the first thing I noticed was my mom’s china cabinet was empty, I was disappointed I asked my mother about the china, she told me my good for nothing brother flew into a rage one day and broke every single piece I bought. He was angry because my mom could not give him the money to watch a movie.

I was upset,not only he broke my mother’s heart by breaking the china, he could not control his stupid temper, he broke everything he could, I’m telling you he is so useless, he did not study, he never worked and has this evil habit of watching movies and smoking, two awful habits, mom had to pay for or else his temper would rise to a maximum, I wish he left home and never came back!

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/365-writing-pr…ad-as-a-hatter

 

DP Daily Prompts: Unsung Heroes

We all have our semi-secret, less known personal favorites –a great B-side, an early work by an artist that later became famous, an obscure(but delicious) family recipe. Share one of your unsung heroes with us–how did you discover it? Why has it stayed off everyone’s radar?

I have a few unsung heroes on my list, one of them is my dad, his accomplishments were many, unfortunately he was in a part of the world where his gift was not recognized, instead of welcoming him, they tried to push him aside, they were not successful, but he died very young.

Second is one of my youngest brother, he was a brilliant student, he loved to read about everything, he was doing Phd. in space science, he too like my dad died early.

Then there was my mom, she’d wow anyone with her cooking skills, friends and family knew her, the knowledge of her gift stayed within the family and friends.

At this moment I know another gifted individual, who is capable of being very famous, he knows it but as far as I know, he doesn’t use his potential as he should which in my mind is a shame.

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/dp-daily-prompts-3/

365 Writing Prompts: Daring do

Tell us about the time you rescued someone else (person,or animal) from a dangerous situation.What happened? How did you prevail?

Our school was closed for Summer holidays, my Dad made arrangements to take us to Bangladesh, he had two reasons to visit the place, he’d be able to see his brothers and also for us to know our relatives, whom we had never seen.

We were excited to fly by airplane, it was our first time, and we’d meet our cousins, and aunts and uncles.

On the day of our journey, I had a lot of questions,my mother warned me not to be so inquisitive, besides she must have thought, it would be a brand new experience for us, she’d want us to have our experience of  exploring her home and make our own opinion. Perhaps she thought she might tell us things  she liked about it, may not be the same as far as we were  concerned. My older sister hated to join us, she couldn’t say no because my father would not have agreed to leave her home by herself. She was fussy and cranky, every time my Dad offered something to eat, she refused. I think Dad lost his patience and said, “Tui eli Kaino?” meaning why did you come?

We were having a grand time while big sis was being uncooperative. We reached Dacca safe and sound, took rickshaws to go to our uncles house. The uncle was my Dad’s youngest brother, he was pleased to see us. I wasn’t quite sure of the aunt, she was always criticizing us, one of her major disappointment was we didn’t learn to eat, by that she meant we did not eat enough, our parents spent money on expensive clothes never invested money on food. After a few days with our aunt we were ready to go to our grandparents home in the village.

This time we travelled by train, it was a long journey, we were kids enjoying every moment of it. When we arrived at Feni( name of the station) Dad told us we’d get off and hire two taxis to go to the village.

Our grandparents’ village was very attractive, every one except the servants were my mother’s relative. They all came in droves to see  us, as if were some kind of aliens from Mars, one asked the other, “Can they speak our language?”

My father felt proud, all his kids spoke fluent Bengali, that’s because it was the ground rule, we must know our mother tongue, he refused to let us turn out to be upstarts, this was the word he used.If I was unsure what the new word meant at that time, it did not take me long to comprehend.

The name of our village is “Cheora”, it is a very neat and clean village, all my mom’s relatives were good people always ready to help.

The best thing I liked about the village is the large pond of my grandparents,one day our cousin, Lily, my sister and I planned to jump in the pond, none of us knew how to swim, we were not scared, up to that time the word drown was not in our vocabulary, we stayed in the shallow end of the pond, suddenly Lily convinced my sister  to float  with her a few feet in the front, neither knew how deep the water was, both of them were having a whale of a time,then the worst happened my sister was drowning, none of us could swim, my mother happened to be there when she heard our screams she jumped to rescue my sister, she did not know how to swim either, she managed to grab my sister’s leg and pulled her towards her, my sister was fighting to get away she didn’t know mom was trying to save her, mom shook her and said, “Shelly it’s me your mom.”

When she heard mom, she stopped struggling. In the meantime the news spread like wild fire, Mr. Sabeth’s daughter has drowned, my Dad was frantic, he was blaming everyone in sight, it was their fault for letting these young girls go to the pond.

The end result of this incident was my Dad told us we were not allowed to go near or even look at the pond. One of my uncle’s claimed he  swam like a fish we should have called him. Had we waited for him it would have  turned out to be a tragedy.

The last few days we were in our grandparents village we were only allowed to walk on land and never in the water.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/365-writing-prompts-daring-do/

 

 

365 Writing prompts: Sink or Swim

Tell us about a time when you were left on your own, to fend for yourself in an overwhelming  situation— on the job, at home, at school. What was the outcome?

I remember once my mom went to see her sister-in-law out of town. My younger siblings and I were left to fend for ourselves, it would be fine if it was just us.

One fine morning my aunt and uncle arrived with their kids, mom was not at home, we had a servant who took care of getting groceries and cleaning the house.

I was barely fifteen, had no experience in cooking , I could do the simple stuff, but wasn’t good enough for company. My aunt was one of those people who was not fond of any kind of housework like cooking or cleaning, it was always done by her four daughters, they were younger than me.

My mom had no idea she had her house full of guests, she was having a grand time with her sister-in-law in the village.

I did the cooking, I’m not sure how good or bad it was , my aunt and her brood were satisfied as long as they didn’t have to cook.

My mom came back after a week, my aunt told my mother, ‘Ranu is a good cook!’

My mother and I knew it wasn’t true, but she  was happy I was able to look after my aunt, uncle and their children.

I was nervous in the beginning but as days went by I became somewhat confident that no one will be sick eating what I served!

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/365-writing-pr…s-sink-or-swim

 

 

365 Writing Prompts: Safety First

Share the story of a time you felt unsafe.

I have learned from experience that at times the so called family friends are the ones ,one must be careful of.

It happened one day, my sister’s friend’s husband came to pick me up to go to his home for supper, I guess his wife was busy cooking, so she didn’t come with him.

I knew who he was since I was only ten or eleven years old, he came to our house a few times, my Dad was not so fond of him because he once asked his wife to take off his shoes in my Dad’s presence. He told my mom, “this man is very ill-mannered.”

My mom laughed and didn’t think much of the incidence.

A few years later he found out where I was teaching,he came to take me to his house, on the way he suddenly looked at me and said, “What would you do if I take you somewhere else?”

Those words terrified me, I stayed quiet, he laughed, I felt unsafe and told myself I’d never go anywhere with a man even if I knew him.

On the way back I coaxed his wife to come with us so she could see where I lived.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/365-writing-pr…s-safety-firs

DP Daily Prompt: Salad Days

Is there a period in your own personal life that you think of as the good old days? Tell us a story about those innocent and/or exciting times( or lack thereof).

I do have a lot of pleasant memories of my childhood, we the siblings enjoyed playing with each other, we did not hesitate to make fun of each other if we made a mistake.

Our day started very early, my mom woke up at 3 am, each morning to pray and then it would be long hours in the kitchen cooking. My dad was fussy, he did not like the same food each morning, my mom had to cook different types of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Whenever my dad was in a bad mood the servants were afraid to take his food, none of my siblings would volunteer either. My mom would look at me with a straight face and say, “Ranu take your Dad’s breakfast, or dinner depending on the time of day.”

You must be wondering about lunch, my mom sent it through one of my Dad’s Chaprasi(this was a man who ran errands for my dad).

Apart from taking my dad’s food when he was not in the best mood, I spent long hours playing with my siblings.

One thing I loved about my Dad was, he did not want us to eat street foods, but if a vendor came by with delicious pastries he would make sure to buy for us, because he felt it was safe for us to eat.

I remember once my Dad was gone somewhere four of us went to his bathroom to take a shower, we were screaming and playing with water, suddenly I heard, “Amaar ghoosal khanai ke ray?”(Who is in my bathroom)?

We froze and stopped, there was no way out we knew he’d catch us, he came slowly, opened the door and told my three siblings to leave immediately, I was scared I thought he’d pull my ears but he didn’t. He told me I was allowed to take a shower in his bathroom but to make sure the other three didn’t join me.

Yes he didn’t scold me, he knew I was the only one who kept things tidy and also took his food when he was upset.

“Those were the days, I thought will never end!” When I think back it makes me smile and wish I could go back in time.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/dp-daily-prompt-salad-day

 

365 Writing Prompts: FAQ

Interview someone- a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman-and write a post based on their responses.

I wasn’t able to interview  anyone from the above people, I’m going to write an imaginary interview with my mom. Based on  her possible answers, I’m writing this post.

I grew up in a large family, my mother was always busy in the kitchen, she was the best cook in our family, of course my Dad was busy with his work at the office, I did not know whether he had any culinary skills, it’s okay if he was lacking in this particular area because  he was brilliant in his work,he didn’t need anything else.

when I was not in school I’d be in the kitchen watching my mom cook, I remember she was preparing to bake a pound cake, we had that old fashioned weighing scale my mother would patiently weigh butter, flour and milk and mix them, she did not weigh the eggs, she knew how many she needed.I was so fascinated with the preparation,I asked my mom if I could also bake a little cake.

The right kind of utensil was a problem to bake a tiny cake,my mom came up with the idea of using the empty Quaker Oats tin, mom helped me to remove the cover  I was excited I will bake a cake too, most of the work of greasing the pan, how much ingredients I’d need my mom helped with that too, the thought that I baked a cake made me very proud.

My Dad who was used to eating my mom’s cooking was happy to taste my little specimen.

There were times I’d ask my mom about our grandparents, she told me my grand father was easy going full of enthusiasm about everything,he depended on my mother for everything. My grandmother she said, had a bit of a temper if grandpa annoyed her she would refuse to feed him. My mom would quietly take the food and give it to him.

My mom had three sisters, one of them was eight years older than her,but she never helped granny with cooking,it was always my mom who was ready to help.

My mom had two brothers, both were younger than her, my mom’s siblings and her parents always depended on her, with cooking ,cleaning,sewing you name it mom did it all.

One day I came home from school, I saw mom crying, I asked my brother what happened, he showed me a letter, from Bangladesh, I took the letter and read it, there was news that grandpa passed away. I felt sad for  mom but had no idea how to console her. Six months later  mom got another bad news this time her mother passed away.

Mom was quiet for a while I know she wished she was there with her parents, when they died.

The sad news of the passing of both our grandparents in such a short time was painful for our mom, she was so amazing in spite of this she continued to cook for us.

The only regret I have is I wasn’t there when she passed away, fate is so cruel sometimes!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/365-writing-prompts-faq/