#SoCS Sept. 21/19

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wrap/rap.” Use one, use both (for bonus points), use ’em any way you’d like. Enjoy!

The assistant in the book shop rapped on the table to draw my attention to see if I liked the colourful paper she was using to wrap the books I had purchased as a gift. I had been looking at the books on the shelves, lost in another world. I did not hear her calling to me. Her rapping brought me back to this world. Book shops and libraries have been my favourite places.

Long back when my children were small I used to buy books for them. We still have them. I don’t think I will discard them. For the past many years I have stopped buying books. Our son buys books which he thinks should be collected. Books have become so costly so I borrow books from the library. I just finished reading the autobiography of a loved writer, Ruskin Bond called Lone Fox Dancing. I loved the book. I am now reading Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh. It is a fascinating book.

Books take us to so many different worlds. At this moment I remember the quote I had once read- ‘People who say they have only one life to lead do not read books.’ So true. Earlier I had read a book which covered nine generations and in the book I moved in space and in time. Moving from the past to the present brought home to me the very small span of our life. I felt as if we were only a grain of sand on the beach. And life goes on. Changes happen but so much remains the same. That is life.

On this note I will wrap my stream of consciousness here. I enjoy Stream of consciousness because it is fascinating how our thoughts move from one topic to another.

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A Photo a Week Challenge: Stacked

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF THINGS THAT ARE STACKED.

A few months ago I read about making bread in food site which I follow.

https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/100-whole-wheat-bread-atta-bread/

I have been experimenting and we are liking the result 😊

Last week I made bread and vegetable soup.

 

 

The Shadow (Sunday Photo Fiction)

Rupa stared at the chairs with tears in her eyes. She remembered that day when she had hurled other chairs in a fit of despair and anger. Anger against her mother who had never cared for her deaf and mute daughter. She gave her food but nothing else. Rupa believed that her mother did not even think of her as a human being. She had not even noticed the bruises in Rupa’s hands and legs. She had not seen the fear in her daughter’s eyes and in her whole body. Rupa had been only twelve at that time.

Her sister, who was much older than her, was away at college in another city. She had come home for vacations. She noticed that Rupa had changed a lot. She saw the bruises and asked her about it. Rupa broke down but managed to convey her fears and misery to her sister. Her sister was shocked and traumatized by Rupa’s terrible ordeal. The two then started living with their grandmother. Her love started the healing process. Rupa completed her studies and started working. She was happy but at unexpected moments memories would surface. The wound had healed but the scar remained.
(200 words)

Photo credit : Pixabay

Everyday Moments ( # SOL-2019)

My weekly Slice of Life are my letters to my Doddamma. She is my father’s elder brother’s wife. Doddamma literally means ‘elder mother’. She is 88 years old. She cannot hear properly if I telephone to talk to her. So, I have been writing letters to her since October 2017. I enjoy writing letters and she is happy to read them. They are only about the everyday moments in my life. I post my letters to her every week.

18-09-19
These are sunny days, the rains have become less but early mornings are cloudy and it rains. Even now when I think of the month of June I wonder about those days- no rains and water scarcity. We were so worried. But days go by.

Last Sunday we went to our village to spend the day with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. My father-in-law is 94 and he lives in his own world but he is able to do his daily activities. For the first time he could not recollect who we were. It was sad. But later he understood. We spent the day with him and returned in the evening.

On the 14th evening we had our book club meeting. We discuss the books we have read in the previous month. It is nice to talk about books and related topics. Once some years ago we all read one book but somehow we did not continue with that. It is interesting that we all enjoy different types of books but some books are enjoyed by all.

On the 11th we were shocked to here that a distant relative had committed suicide by jumping into the river not far from his home. His body has not been found. It is difficult to understand why people give up their lives. They must be in such despair. And those who have gone are gone, but the state of mind of those who are left behind ! It is traumatic when our near ones die due to accidents or due to health reasons. But it must be so difficult to come to terms when they commit suicide.

I have been going to Asare, the home for the mentally challenge, going there is a part of my life. Evening walks too are a nice part of our lives.

There is a Parijatha tree in our yard and it is a pleasure to see the flowers every morning. These flowers bloom at night and fall to ground early morning. They are my favourite flowers. They are simple and beautiful.

I posted my letter to my Doddamma yesterday and I have sent photos of our grandchildren to her. She likes to look at photos.

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.”                                                                   Buddha

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyctanthes_arbor-tristis

 

 

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #270 Pure&Serene

Serene is the soul
Which sees pure silver linings
Behind the dark clouds.

#SoCS Sept. 14/19

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “blue.” Talk about the first blue object you see when you sit down to write your post. Have fun!

For the last two or three days it has been difficult to open my WordPress account. In fact the site has not been uploading. I was worried. Today morning after breakfast I sat down to read the newspaper. I thought I would check if WordPress was available as I wanted to see the prompt.

We read the Deccan Herald and  top of the page  is blue in colour. I turned to see if the sky was blue in colour but it was not. It had been raining in morning and there is sunlight now. The sky is more white than blue or black.
The first article that I read is the addiction to the social media by the elderly. They are as vulnerable as the young. Yesterday evening after our walk we went to the library. I was reading in the article about addiction to gadgets and specially the craze for taking selfies. So many die because they take such risks and all for the appreciation of their ‘friends’. One young girl , just married, fell into the river while taking a selfie. Really tragic.

Anyone would feel blue after reading about people losing their lives for such a trivial issue.
We too take selfies but only when relatives come and we want to include everyone in the photo. Sometimes I  take a selfie of us and so often we look very funny and we start laughing and delete the photo.  I think my WordPress and Facebook profile photos are selfies 😊
My previous post, Sunday Photo fiction is about Selfies 😊.

https://mukhamani.wordpress.com/2019/09/11/musings-of-a-guide-sunday-photo-fiction/

A Photo a Week Challenge: Something new

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF SOMETHING NEW.

A new rose.

A new day