Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “collar.” Use it as a verb, a noun, or metaphorically. Bonus points for using it in all three ways! Enjoy!
Today’s prompt reminded me of all the shirts and frocks I had stitched for my children. Collars for shirts and kurtas, peter pan collars, sailor collars and so many more types for frocks. Stitching always interested me. I went to college in Bombay and I was staying with my father’s elder sister. I told her I would like to join a class. A lady in the next building took classes in her home. I remember going there, I think once a week. Those classes were fun.
I stitched shirts for my son. And when my daughter was born, stitching became more fun. Frocks are so much more exciting then shirts 😊. The different types of collars and sleeves and patterns made the whole process so satisfying. I remember loving the design of a frock worn by a dancer in an old Hindi movie. I stitched a frock according to that design but that frock did not have a collar. Those were the days before the mobile phones and digital cameras. I do not have the photos of all the frocks that I stitched. Now I stitch only for myself, though last year I stitched dresses for my grandchildren. But they were simple shirts and frocks. When I am stitching, I am in a different world. It is difficult to collar me at that time 😊.
I was thinking how to use the word metaphorically, it has been a long time since I have used metaphors and many a time we use them without really thinking about them. I am listening to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens on Audibles. It is a dramatized version. Ebenezer Scrooge with the Christmas spirit is looking at the scene in the house of Bob Cratchit. Bob is his clerk and Ebenezer has underpaid and overworked him. In fact, he has placed a collar on Bob and Bob has no choice, he has to live with it. He is poor and has a large family. In spite of this Bob and his family raised a toast to Ebenezer on Christmas eve. I have yet to listen to rest of the story. I have read it long back but it is a nice experience to listen to stories. I enjoy Stream of consciousness because it shows me how my thoughts move from one topic to another😊. In fact, it is difficult to collar thoughts, the mind has its own rules.
21 replies on “#SoCS Sept. 12/2020”
Your sentence “It is difficult to collar me at that time” is a lovely use of the word. It can be used as a noun as well in that sense. In old detective books and films they used to say “That’s a good collar” to a colleague who had arrested a master criminal who usually eluded the police. I think it came from the fact that, very often, a policeman would hold the arrested man, from behind, by his collar.
There are lots of people here in England who do not speak English as well as you and many other Indians do. They lack a wide vocabulary, the product, sadly, of the fact that they hardly ever read a book.
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The verbification of nouns is a fun game. During the 2012 London Olympics, TV commentators spoke of teams “medalling”. Office workers synchronising their business diaries are said to be “diarising”.
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🙂
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Thank you, I think reading makes a lot of difference. My son tells me many of his students don’t read books other than the course books.
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I love SoCS, but it never turns up in my WordPress Reader until the Monday after the Saturday. Is there an open-ended omnibus version?
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Have you followed it?
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Yes, I follow everything you do. I read it enthusiastically, and one day I will pluck up the courage to join in, even on a Monday. The word COLLAR brought back memories of fashion failures, both in shirts and sweaters. Back in the 1970s, “penny round” collars were “all the rage” for fashionable men. I love those kind of memoir prompts.
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https://lindaghill.com/2020/09/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-12-2020/
I meant Linda’s page.
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Sorry, I never spotted the connection. I thought it was your project.
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I take part in this challenge. Lind hosts the challenge. It is fun.
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Thank you. I am following now.
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You said it Lakshmi. I too enjoy stitching, learnt from my mother. She was good at stitching, painting , knitting and embroidery.
Your ability put thoughts into words is superb👍
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An excellent metaphor. My mother made all our clothes
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Did that make you feel “hemmed” in by homemade fashion?
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🙂
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My mother too stitched our clothes 🙂
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A beautiful stream Lakshmi.
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Thank you Peter.
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Nicely written. Was your stitching all by hand or machine? I have such respect for anyone that can stitch by hand.
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By machine and the hemming and buttons by hand. Thank you.
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When my daughter was little and we had very little money I embroidered designs on the front of overalls that I had worn as a child. I also made her little rompers, learning to attach the snaps that made diapering easy. My biggest accomplishment was sewing her prom dress from a Vogue pattern she picked out. It had three layers and a boned bodice. It took me the better part of a week, but it made me very proud to see her in it.
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