The Daily Prompt : Blank

I see him every afternoon.

The blank look in his eyes,

Pierce my heart,

Making me wonder

About his future.

As long as parents are there,

He will be looked after,

After that?

What will be his future?

At his age,

He should have been

Playing and studying

And having fun in life.

There is no strength in his body,

And that blank look in his eyes,

Makes me wonder.

What goes on behind them,

Does he know about himself,

Or is everything a blank paper?

I keep asking myself,

Why does this happen?

Why this suffering?

What went wrong?

The blank look in his eyes

Pierce my heart

And makes me wonder,

About the questions in life

Which can never be answered.

Life just has to be lived.

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The Fact in Fiction

 

I am reading this fascinating book, ‘Ghost train to the Eastern Star’ by Paul Theroux. It is about his journey from London, across Eastern Europe, Asia and back. He had travelled this route in the seventies and the account of that journey was in his book, ‘The great Railway Bazaar’. His writing brings all the places alive.

I came across these words and they struck a chord. I was able to really appreciate his feelings, “The topography of Literature, the fact in fiction, is one of my pleasures. I mean where the living road enters the pages of a book, and you are able to stroll along both the real and the imagined road… for the way it shows how imagination and landscape combine to become art… the towns on the Mississippi that are important in Huckleberry Finn.”

These lines reminded me of our trip to London last year. London did not seem like a new place. The names and roads and places are so familiar to us who have grown up reading Charles Dickens or Georgette Heyer or Agatha Christie or Barbara Cartland or Arthur Conon Doyle or Nevil Shute or P G Wodehouse and so many other books. The first week we stayed in Ealing Broadway and that place seemed familiar because Keith Stewart of Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute (one of my favourite books) went on those roads every day.  The British Museum and Hyde Park are an important part of Georgette Heyer books. Many of the roads came alive because of Sherlock Holmes and people in books by Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie and P G Wodehouse. We had been to Oxford, Wimbledon, Greenwich and Hampton Court. Cruising on the Thames, walking on the London Bridge, looking at Buckingham palace were all familiar experiences. London Underground was fun and we really enjoyed ourselves, the names were so familiar because of Monopoly. :))

I had been on the imagined roads countless times. It was fascinating when all those imagined roads became real roads and together they are a part of our lives. They are precious memories. It is equally fascinating how those ‘imagined roads’ in fiction bring alive places and long after we have travelled on the real roads, books once again make us live though our experiences and make the past alive. The imagined and the real roads become one.

(One of the roads in Ealing Broadway)

The Daily Post photo Challenge : Spare

Spare has many connotations: it can mean one too many, or sparse, or even to release something from harm. I’m looking forward to seeing your interpretations! Bonus points to those who tell the story behind their “spare” inspiration.

Spare also means Surplus

The jackfruit season has started in our place. We use them not only as fruits but also as vegetables. When they are small we use them to prepare many dishes. From raw jackfruit  papads, chips  are made. They are very popular. Once they are ripe, they are good to eat. But not all are sweet.But the problem sometimes is that they are so big, too big for a small family.

The Daily Prompt : Countless

Those countless stars which make the night sky so beautiful are sometimes taken for granted by us. They are there and will always be there. Long back I had read Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. He is one of my favourite writers.

This story is set in a planet somewhere out there. There are six suns around this planet so there is no darkness or night time for the people there. But once in two thousand years due to the position of the suns there is darkness, there is nightfall. The people who live in the present learn about this event and are prepared for this strange phenomenon. But nothing prepares them for the countless stars they see when darkness comes. Most people go mad and the story continues.

After reading the story, for many nights I used to go out at night look at the stars and feel reassured. :)) Recently I read this book again and as in the past this time too it was such a pleasure to look at the stars. It would be terrible if we could never see those countless stars.

 

 

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Architecture

‘This week’s topic is Architecture.  What types of building appeal to you: Modern Art, Historical,  Colonial,  Gothic, European, Asian,  Commercial,  Industrial?  Take your pick. do you like?  Any building that you like, for any reason is appropriate for this week’s challenge.’

Our country is large and diverse. We have temples everywhere but the architecture of our temples are different in different places. I am posting photos of some temples in my part of the country.

 

 

 

The Daily prompt : Phase

What would life be like,

Without its different phases?

One long monotonous routine

Without any changes.

We move on from,

Childhood to youth,

From youth to middle age,

From middle age to old age

Till we reach the end.

Each phase is so different,

We learn as we move on.

We change and life changes,

Every phase is different.

This very difference

Makes life what it is.

We can look back,

But cannot go back

And it would not be fun

To go back or keep yearning

For the phase which

We have left behind.

Each phase is different

And this very difference

And our way of looking at it,

Makes life what it is.

My grandparents,son, mother and my daughter in my grandmother’s lap.

My daughter’s son in my mother’s lap 🙂

The Daily Prompt : Dream

When I read the prompt Dream, my thoughts went back to what my grandfather, my father’s father, had written about his early life. He was born in 1893. He and his parents and other family members lived in a small village in South India. He went to his village school till 4^th standard. There were no High schools near his village and living in the city was too expensive. His father and uncles were agriculturists. So he had to discontinue his studies. He was very disappointed as it had been his dream to get higher education. He had to give up his dream. In the following years due to bad management his father and brothers lost their home and property. His father shifted to the nearby city and got a job there. This was in 1909. My grandfather joined school again, he was 16 and joined 6^th std or First form. In every person’s life there comes a turning point when life changes for the better or for worse. My grandfather continued his studies and completed BA Honours in 1920. He was a teacher all his life and gave good education to his children, and his legacy continues, his dream lives on.

This photo is of my grandfather, his parents and family. Sitting on the right is my grandfather and behind him standing my grandmother. This photo was taken in 1924.

The Daily Post Photo Challenge : Jubilant

Jubilant, adjective: showing great joy, satisfaction, or triumph; rejoicing; exultant.

In our part of the world, we have just two main seasons – Summer and rainy season. The rains usually stop by October every year. Then they start only in June. By that time the weather is very hot and everyone waits for the rains. The first rains bring great relief and joy. I always feel the trees and plants rejoice when they get water from above, it is as if the leaves are dancing with joy. Even if we water the plants,  water from above is something altogether different. There is a feeling of jubilance everywhere.

 

The Daily Prompt : Pensive

Sun sets for the day,

Those moments of dusk,

Though beautiful,

Are sometimes,

Pensive moments.

One more day has gone by,

Leaving us wondering

About the coming days.

What is in store for us,

We just never know.

We do our best

And prepare for the future.

But, life can give us surprises,

And leave us helpless,

Thinking,

‘We never thought

This would happen to us.’

Sun has set in our part of the world,

And has risen somewhere else.

Life goes on.

Wherever one lives,

Human nature is the same,

Good, the bad and the ugly.

Dusk and pensive thoughts

Sometimes come  together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Apology

Ours is a small place on top of a hill. It was quiet and serene place with trees and valleys. There were so many different types of birds here. This was so till about a decade ago. But now so much has changed. The place is small because that cannot be changed. In the name of development trees have been cut down, valleys filled and has made way for a concrete jungle. Every day as I come back walking home, I see the concrete jungle I send out a heartfelt apology to Mother Earth. Not only for the concrete jungle all over the place but for all those borewells sucking out water. I can do something in a small way but what can common people do against the power and wealth of those who are so greedy for more wealth and more power ? We can just say sorry and pray for the best.