Wordsmith at work

https://dl.flipkart.com/s/rSS37UNNNN https://amzn.eu/d/3VBybSe It was indeed exciting to see verses that I had penned over the years on the pages of a book and also in the virtual world. I get nostalgic, spiritual, funny, romantic and just plain creative in these verses. I hope you enjoy reading the poems as much as I enjoyed writing the poems.   

  Penny The Partying Penguin   Penny was a ‘party penguin’. She loved to party and lived a lavish life. She had left home to work in an office, where she earned a good salary. However, she hardly saved anything because she was a spendthrift.  Penny sent her parents money but not regularly.    Soon it would be Christmas. All the Penguins were busy preparing for Christmas, cleaning and decorating their homes and buying tasty treats. Penguin Place wore a very festive look with lights and buntings everywhere. All the penguins were happy and in good cheer, but our Penny was sad and miserable. She had been to the bank in the morning and found that had very little money in her account.  She could not even buy a little of her favourite fish. As she sat alone at home, big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. What was she to do? Penny decided to call her friend Percy. “Oh, Percy! She said, I am in so much trouble.” “My bank account is almost empty and it is C...

  I’m fairly new to blogging but being lazy is not new to me. Bloggers too have lazy days, when they switch off from active blogging.   What would I, a blogger do on a lazy day? Well, firstly, I would move away from the daily routine of alarm clocks and indulge in forty winks or more.  Once awake, I would head to the kitchen to prepare my morning concoction of spices and powders, sip on it, slow and steady and then cut down exercise time by half. The lazy day would see me enjoying a leisurely breakfast, reading almost every page of the newspaper and chit-chatting with family. I would decide not to do any writing.   Reading and commenting on posts by fellow bloggers would open up new perspectives and help me network with others. What better day, than a lazy day for me to catch up on the aforementioned. I might want to use the break to give the blog a new look by changing the colour and fonts of the blog while inserting new images. Doing this could pos...

  Gratitude - Now and Forever        I could have a complaint for every single day of the year. Would I care to count my blessings? I’m afraid I neglect to.  Yet, if I were to examine my life there is a great deal that I must be grateful for, not only in 2023 but always. As I write this post, I'm reminded of the hymn 'Count your blessings...which we sang so often in school.        I walked into 2023 grieving for my mother who had passed away a few days before Christmas 2022. It has been difficult coming to terms with the loss of Ma.  I was blessed to have this resilient and patient woman steering me through the ups and downs of life. Mom and Dad were humble and hardworking folk and I give thanks for them. How excited was I, when my brother came into my life!  Travel rejuvenates and I give thanks for the mini vacations I was able to take in 2023. Precious sights and sounds are now added to that treasure trove of memories. T...

  Festive routines that I love   I don’t prepare for festivals like my parents and grandparents did. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I shall rewind to my childhood when the excitement began building up at least a month before Christmas. The spiritual preparation begins a month before with a season of reflection called Advent. The Christmas service in church is held on Christmas Eve and also on Christmas morning.. Clothes – New clothes are a big part of the Christmas festivity. I remember Mom sitting at her sewing machine and painstakingly tailoring my Christmas outfits. She turned out some beautiful stuff. As I grew into my teens and early twenties shopping for fabric with my mom was something that I looked forward to. Once we had decided upon and purchased the fabric, it was time to finalize the style and pattern and get it tailored. The early bird catches the worm and hence the earlier you stood outside the tailor’s door, the better your chances of getti...

  Escalators –I have never stepped on an escalator and don’t know when I will or whether I ever will. The concept of a moving staircase scares the daylights out of me. At railway platforms, malls and airports I‘d rather use the staircase than an escalator. I say an escalator is as fearful as a creepy-crawly alligator A moving staircase 😅That would be straight out of a Harry Potter. My friends join me in the elevator Cajoling me to step on the scary people - mover I am terrified! Ha Ha! An escalator to me only spells disaster.   Snakes – Snakes may be beautiful and fascinating to some, but to me they are simply slippery, slimy creatures who bring on nightmares even during the day. I fear snakes and I can’t even bear to look at one for long.  Many moons ago, my then toddler brother went to pick up something that he thought was a black ribbon, but which turned out to be a snake. The disaster was averted in time by my ever-vigilant parents.   Spir...

  Teaching and taking care of my parents kept me quite occupied. My social life was nothing to write home about. Not being married didn’t bother me. I occasionally had thoughts about Sam but didn’t dwell on them. Pleasantly plump with wavy black hair and sparrow brown eyes. At thirty - six ,  I considered myself moderately attractive. Preparing for the Christmas pageant was both exciting and tiring. The day had seen numerous rehearsals, costume – fittings and over-excited nine-year-olds all over the place.   It was 4 p.m. when I slowly walked out of the school gate and decided to stop for a coffee at the coffee shop at the end of the street. Sitting in the cosy café, enjoying my steaming cup of coffee I smiled as I thought about the enthusiasm of the energetic youngsters. How full of life they were! I drew from their energy and spirit.  Outside, the snow fell gently, turning the world into a pristine white blanket, while inside the café the aroma of freshly baked...

  Ageing is as natural a process as the sun's rising and setting, and no one is spared. Can you come to terms with this inevitable part of life or do you spend your days counting your wrinkles and going on fad diets? Embracing the fact that you aren’t as sprightly as a twenty-something and have to now take on certain physical and mental challenges would mean that you have decided to age gracefully and holistically. You want to be healthy and happy in these challenging years. Slowly and steadily you get down to adopting practices that help you navigate the inevitable occurrence of ageing. You strive to replace fear with hope. If you have ageing family members, then you help them move from negativity to positivity. Ageing brings on a number of fears: ·        Declining health L   Loss of independence ·        Lack of adequate funds ·        Living alone – loneliness and isola...

  A World Without Books   I for sure cannot conceive or imagine a world without books. Books seek to inspire, motivate, entertain, inform and educate. Without books, it would seem as if a limb were missing. Technology provides us with much of the information we need, but there is nothing to beat the pleasure of leafing through a physical book or getting immersed in one to fulfil your needs. Be it a dusty tome or a brand new book, books take you to another level altogether. If books were absent from the world: There would be a certain darkness in the world. Books preserve knowledge. Today, we can source information from digital media and store the same on digital media, but digital media is subject to loss and degradation. You would miss out on the pleasures of visiting a book library to pick out a book or simply sitting quietly, garnering the information that you want. I grew up, as most children are, packing a school bag for the next day, making sure that all th...

  Bookmark You love to read But the day is fraught With chores galore Oh! What a bore. Then you place me On the page where you left off Coming back to read When your tasks are complete. I may be fancy, quirky or just plain But by you, dear bookworm I am needed time and again.

  Lessons Learnt Until Now.   1.    Change is the only constant. Our life on earth is not permanent. One day we shall all depart. Circumstances, situations and people in our lives are all subject to change. Changes happen for the better or for worse. We are happy when the change works in our favour and are called to accept, adapt, adjust and accommodate if the change works against us.  Sometimes, though you dislike the change, it is good for you. The change may bring to the fore your abilities and talents, and see you coping in adverse circumstances or simply break you.  A financial setback has changed a lot of things for me. Yet, it has taught me to count my blessings and be grateful for the smallest of blessings. Hence, as often said, 'change is the order of the universe and nobody or nothing can defeat change. As much as I would like to live in a comfort zone, I have learnt that life has this knack of making you most uncomfortable.  ...

Peace, not pieces   If there was one thing I could change in the world, I would want to wipe off the ugliness of evil from the face of my beautiful world. Evil takes many forms. War is one such evil that I would love to banish. War arises from the lust for wealth and power. War is so useless and hopeless. No good ever comes from war. This horrendous act creates death, destruction, grief and poverty. The time, energy and money spent on wars could be put to more productive use.   The perpetrators of war rejoice in their extended boundaries, their enhanced power and wealth but cause a brokenness among their people that may never heal. I wish I could simply wave a magic wand and create a world that was a haven of peace, understanding and love where people lived in harmony and accepted each other’s differences.   This post is part of the Blogchatterbloghop featured category. 

  Dearest daddy,                            Happy Father's Day in heaven! It's been 32 years since you left us and the day was even sadder because you departed on your wedding anniversary. Well, Mom's there up with you now.  As I write this, the memories come tumbling out. My tall, burly, genial dad sporting his signature crew cut and khaki trousers riding his red and white Lambretta always a song on his lips and a smile for all. Your good humour cheered many. That Lambretta scooter gave me rides to school, church and college. Those were good days, Dad. Ah dad, you had the pleasure of signing the report cards when they were all bright and shining. Poor mom, she was given the dirty work! You loved your darling wife, son and daughter to bits. To you, Mom was the best chef in the world but Dad sorry to say, your little girl doesn't much care for the kitchen. Ha Ha. By the way, I have inherited your booming voic...

  It was a match made in heaven and a fairy tale wedding. She willowy and beautiful,  he tall, muscular and handsome. They had been married for two happy years when he began to get restless and took to golf. He started to participate in out-of-town golf tournaments. Sheena was always left behind but he brought back expensive presents for her." I need some space Sheena," he brazenly told her.   She chatted nineteen – to – a dozen regaling him with tales of how she had spent the days that he was away. And he hung on to every word that she uttered. She went away on some weekends to her mother’s house in a town about four hours away. She said that she wanted to give him some space and he rejoiced. Then one day she broached the subject of having a child. He said that he would think about it. “Let’s enjoy ourselves, Sheena." Life went on… Sheena and Rajiv came across as a very happily married couple. They went out on dates and holidays cleverly planned by Ra...