I'm trying. #WriteAPageADay

 

 

I’m trying

 

I’m trying to look at the bright side

Be a happy, positive, cheerful me.

 

I’m trying to get behind the steering wheel

But disaster is all I foresee.

 

I’m trying to ride on an escalator

My nerves simply don’t ride with me.

 

I’m trying to eat bitter -gourd

Though it just doesn’t appeal to me.

 

I’m trying to save a rupee or two

Alas! It just waves goodbye to me.

 

I tried to write a page a day

Sadly,  it did not turn out that way.

 

Life’s all about trial and error

Improving the one

You see in the mirror.

 

Piece of advice to children preparing for exams

 

Dear Kids,

                  Truly, exams put you through some very ‘testing times.' You generally have more than one exam to crack in a single year which can be quite challenging.

Board exams add to your troubles. There’s special study time table chalked out for you. You speak, read and think in a rarified air of academics, percentages and grades. Your parents already bewildered and harassed with the daily business of living, find their stress levels sky rocketing as they wonder what the future holds for their children. Besides, the syllabus is humongous and very little of it prepares you for the daily grind of life. The results of board exams may make or break your future. So you have to keep your nose to the grindstone.

            Well, all exams bring on the heat and you need to keep your cool. Panic isn’t taking you anywhere. My grandmother often reminded us of an age old adage – ‘no gain without pain.’

        I would recommend:

Regular daily study, last minute cramming is disastrous.

A dedicated study space – Quiet and away from distractions.

Adequate sleep, nutrition and exercise.

A schedule which also includes some recreation.

Give it your best shot and leave God to do the rest.

 

A concerned parent.

 

 This post is part of the BlogChatterBlogHop Link. 

 

The colour Blue

 

Blue is a pretty colour. The light and dark of blue is very appealing. It just feels so good gazing up at the daytime blue sky. Travelling down memory lane, my school uniform was a white blouse and a blue pleated skirt. The ocean is a tantalizing deep blue and my ma's favourite colour was blue.There is a genre of music and a mood named after the colour.

 

Some Interesting facts about Blue.

Blue is a relatively new colour and the last colour to be named in the English language. 

The Chinese associate colours with the 5 primary elements, the four seasons and directions. Hence they associate blue with wood, east and spring.

Blue is a sign of Hope in countries with a high Catholic population.

Blue is the fifth colour of the rainbow.

According to L. Elizabeth Crawford, a psychology professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, the association of blue with sadness arose from the look of the body when it’s in low energy or low in oxygen. Lips turn blue or there is a blue pallor to the complexion.

Blue jeans are most popular.

Just 8% of the world’s population have blue eyes.

According to Greek culture, the colour blue is said to ward off the ‘evil eye’. Therefore some Greeks wear a blue charm necklace or bracelet for protection.

Blue is the least common colour found among foods. Blue in food generally indicates spoilage.

Unlike Red that is used to symbolize danger, Blue symbolizes peace, dependability, calmness, and relaxation.

Light blue shades are said to improve concentration, while dark blue is said to improve the thought process.

Blue is the also the colour of sadness, hence the expression, ‘feeling blue’.

There is a genre of music, called the ‘blues’ that revolves around the loss of money and love.

The colour blue is used to market products associated with hygiene.

Blue is not a common colour in nature.

Blue as a colour for boys began after World War2. Manufacturers wanted to sell more clothes by making separate clothes for boys.

A tradition from the Victorian age, still followed by many brides is wearing something blue on their wedding day since blue also symbolizes, love, fidelity, purity which according to the old English were the three major qualities for a rock - solid marriage.

Shades of blue include Cyan, Azure, Turquoise, Aqua, Midnight blue, Royal blue, Aquamarine, Cornflower blue, Aegean blue.

The History of Blue

Historically, blue is not present in cave paintings from over 20,000 years ago. The Greeks did not have a name for blue but the Egyptians valued the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli, so blue became a part of their language and clothing. Though blue was worn by royalty for many centuries, it became a more common colour in 431AD. The Catholic Church depicts the Virgin Mary in a blue garment.

 

Hence blue is colour popular in culture and fashion and is also a colour of paradox.

 

My Magic Pen #WriteAPageADay

 

I was rummaging in my overcrowded drawer for a glue stick , when I spotted something long and silvery. I reached for it .It was a pen.

Gluestick forgotten, I pulled out the cover and put the pen to paper. My curiosity got the better of me.  I almost died of shock when the pen started moving. I took a chance and asked it to write poems.  Words began appearing on the paper. The words were silver in colour. It wrote two of my favourite poems – The Highwayman and Daffodils.  There were 7 tiny buttons on the pen. Each was a colour of the rainbow. As I pressed each, the pen wrote in that particular colour.

There were 15 tiny silver buttons, after the line of coloured buttons. Each button, when activated, displayed a font that the pen could write in.  Again, my joy knew no bounds. I simply said, ‘write’ and it wrote and wrote. Songs, stories, poems, all in a different font. Then I simply placed it down. I asked it to stop writing. At the rate it was writing, I would soon be out of paper.

The pen was an absolute treat. I began to wonder how I came to possess it. Would it help me in school? I quietly carried it to school. I did not show it to anyone. When teacher asked us to write the answer to a question or work out a Maths problem, I whispered the question to the magic pen and my magic pen did not disappoint me.  I held the pen, so it seemed as if I was writing. To my good luck, nobody noticed. I wondered whether it would help me in my exams and decided to carry it to the exam hoping that it would work its magic.

Then I heard a bell. Was it the school bell? It was shrill and piercing. The school bell did not sound like that. The school bell was more of a gong.

It was my alarm, waking me from the sweetest dream that I had ever had.

#WriteAPageADay

345 words. 

The Truth Be Told... #WriteAPageADay

 “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” —Thomas Jefferson, former U.S. president

The truth be told, the truth doesn’t go down well with all. Often, people prefer to be told what they want to hear. I don’t always take my husband’s advice but there is one piece of advice that I find valuable. He always urges me to tell the truth. I try to remember that in my day to day dealings. Honesty is the best policy, and that, hubby dear says, will always hold you in good stead.

If everybody began telling the truth would it make the world a better place. A  lot of what people don’t want to hear would come out in the open. People would be afraid and uncomfortable. Some would be happy that the truth has finally been told. Telling the truth may get you into hot water, but it would be the best you could do for yourself in the long run.

 “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” —Buddha

There are different aspects to telling the truth. Telling the truth can be awkward and difficult. You may have to be diplomatic when telling a sensitive friend that a dress or hairstyle doesn’t suit her or that you don’t care for her daily ‘good morning’ wishes. You may wish to keep the truth from a senior or a gravely ill person. This would include the truth about an event, family member, friend, or illness.

It takes courage to speak out the truth against exploitation and other misdeeds. 

You may have to tell a hundred lies or more to cover one tiny lie. Consistent lying is a habit that does you no good.  Keeping your word is important, but if you can’t keep your word for valid reasons, it is also important to speak the truth and tell it like it is or people begin to lose trust in you and you lose credibility.

Yes, the truth hurts but it is far better to speak the truth or know the truth and sleep easy than to spend your time inventing lie after lie.

 "The truth is like the sun

You can shut it out for a time

But it will not go away. 

     - Elvis Presley

Ma

 

Mom’s the word.

 

My most favourite person in the world would be my mom. I lost her to a debilating stroke a few days before Christmas last year and I miss her more than words can say.

Mom was the third among nine children. She belonged to a middle class family and was raised byhardworkingand God fearing parents. She did them proud.

 She trained to be a teacher and taught for more than 25 years in various schools. She spent much of her married life in the steel city of Jamshedpur where she raised my brother and me. I wonder now… how she managed to do it all…Cook, teach, tutor, tailor my clothes and generally take care of dad, my brother, and me . Her cooking brought her fame and dad once said that her every dish was a poem.

 Mom was patient, gentle and kind to a fault. She supervised our studies with utmost patience and even completed needle work for me. Mom signed the bad report cards while dad was given the honor to sign the good ones. She was happy tending to her potted garden or reading her favourite authors.

I enjoyed our shopping trips be it for groceries or girlie stuff. As an adolescent, I was able to confide freely in her and we grew evencloser.I could talk to her about just anything.

Mom was a tower of strength, remaining unfazed when I was afflicted with a life – threatening sickness, not so very long ago. All she said was, ‘pray, don’t panic.’ She was a huge help when I was raising my boys. Their father worked overseas and it was she who helped me in my duties as mommy.

I admired her for her courage. Dad passed away which was hard on her but she marched on, living her life in the best possible way.

Her health had been failing these past few years but her faith was strong. She viewed online church services regularly and prayed a lot. It saddened us immensely to watch her fade away after the stroke. Often she would hold out her hand from her sick bed and I would hold it for a while.

So mom, wherever you are know that we will always love you.

Missing you ma

 Your quiet demeanour

Your patience and understanding

We shall always remember.

 

You bore with fortitude

The storms of life

Until Jesus said, no more

And opened heaven’s door.

 

Quietly a light went out

A darkness came about

And in heaven the angels did shout

Ma’s home they said.

 

Heartbroken as we are

We know you’re happy, you’re safe

Free from pain

Free from worldly stress and strain.

 

A treasure trove of sweet memories

You’ve left behind

Ma, we love you, miss you ma.

 

 

  #WriteAPageADay

Full House

 

A favourite Book

 

I found Full House by Irish author Maeve Binchy to be a rather unusual read. Dee and Liam are a happily married couple with 3 grown children who still live with them but contribute nothing to the home's running. Dee loves her children but a house full of grown children?

Rosie moved out when she married, but her marriage was seeing some difficult times, so she is back with her parents. Helen is a teacher but doesn’t earn enough to buy a place of her own. Anthony is a songwriter but has not been able to monetize his songwriting. All 3 children happily live at home with their parents without contributing a cent towards the upkeep of the house.

Then one day a crisis happens and Dee decides that things must change, irrespective of whether the change is acceptable or unacceptable to the children.  making the changes. The mother wrestles with guilt, but her supportive friends help her go ahead with the changes.

Dee subtly makes the changes. Rosie, Anthony and Helen are shocked. Didn’t mom and dad like having a full house? The threesome has to adapt to the changes and it is not easy.

The changes were instrumental in Anthony. Rosie and Helen having to face some hard truths of life and also in helping Helen find love while getting Rosie and her husband Ronan back together. The changes teach Anthony responsibility. 

Dee and her husband Liam gift themselves a trip to Sicily with the money the changes brought about. At their silver wedding celebrations, the three children were shocked to hear Dee saying that they wished their children every happiness and that the children had left like leaves falling from a tree.

That’s not how Anthony, Helen and Rosie remembered it. 

This captivating story teaches lessons of gratitude, responsibility, help and never taking your loved ones for granted.