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/

Book Review written and Posted by Ranu

Yesterday I was able to finish reading the book, “A Long Way Home”.  The author is Saroo Brierley. It’s published by the Penguin Group.

The author was thirty years old when he wrote the book. He has very vividly described the trials he faced as a child. It’s hard to imagine a five year old boy remembering early years of his life in such great detail.

While reading the book I felt he was an extraordinary boy, he looked after his year and a half old sister, while his mother went away to work in an unknown place for days, so she could provide food for her family of five, three sons and a daughter.

He was left alone most of the time with his sister, while his brothers also looked for work.

Saroo the main character was always curious to know where his brothers go everyday. He managed to convince his brother to take him. This was the beginning of the little boy’s arduous journey,  who came close to death a few times but was  saved by unknown strangers.

His older brother had told him to stay where he left him, but Saroo somehow moved from there and ended up in strange  places and was unable to find his home, he did not know the name of the place where he lived, tried his best to describe it to strangers who were busy with their own life and paid no heed to a poor little boy.

Eventually he was lucky an Australian couple adopted him. he had never seen anything good in his life before this, he was surrounded by poverty, coming to Australia exposed him to a life he had never known, he actually could have a room where he could sleep and get meals without asking for it.

All the comfort and good life did not stop him from thinking about his brothers and his sister and mother. Every day he reminded himself about his family he longed to meet. He did not want to forget them and the place he came from. It’s as if he captured the memory of his five years in India, safely tucked away in a corner of his mind, his determination to remember his family was a priority.

His adoptive parents took good care of him fed him clothed him and gave him the opportunity to go to school. He loved them and did not mention the family he left behind, because he did not want to offend them.

He grew up and soon was able to use a computer, he used it to locate the place he came from, it took years to be successful, he did not give up, in the end he was united with his family

I was amazed to read how dedicated he was. When he left India he was only five years old, to be able to find his family after twenty five years is nothing short of a miracle!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/book-review-posted-by-ranu