Bake the Cake

After not making it to the voting in the last week's challenge, I was a tad disappointed. But then my piece was read and enjoyed by some of the fellow writers and that made me feel a lot better. I know I am still in the early stages of writing and yes, I do tend to jump tenses at times.

So does that mean I am going to stop writing? No way! It only means I'll have to concentrate and work harder. Which is why I am taking up writing creative non-fiction again this week.

The underlying theme for this week is to keep trying and the first thing I remembered when I read the write up was about my disasters in trying to bake a cake in the microwave.

Unlike the households in other countries, in India we did not have built-in oven in the kitchen. The trend began with the increasing number of people taking interest in baking cakes & bread at home and it is fast becoming a standard feature.

It was during my early college days that we brought home a microwave and it sat in a corner, dressed in an old curtain cloth. Indian cooking doesn't really need a microwave and the person who came to give us the demo told us about reheating and preset recipes most of which were non-vegetarian.

We were totally disappointed. It looked like we had absolutely no use for it! Month after month I would look at it not knowing what to do. I searched on the internet, wrote down recipes and tried using the poor thing, but I ended up being the poor thing. They were absolute disasters and I thought I was better off using the cooker cake mix to make cakes at home.

But.... the microwave should have some use (we do not reheat food) and I kept trying asking people for tips and ideas. I hit gold when I posted the same query in a foodie group in Facebook and a kind lady explained to me the different types of microwaves(mine is just MW & grill). She gave me the approximate time settings and encouraged me to keep trying. For half an hour in an OTG the microwave takes around 5-7 mins.

Honestly, my parents were reluctant but I got stubborn and they gave in eventually. I messed up a few more cakes and even bread (it ended up looking like a ball of dough). Another round of hunting the internet began and it was then that I realized; not cakes can be made in the MW and definitely not breads.

A simple recipe caught my eye and finally I got a decent chocolate cake. It was kind of mushy though, but at least we could eat it.

I kept trying, reading stuff and making adjustments in power and time settings. Gradually, the efforts began to pay off. I still mess up at times, the cake turns out too dry or hard, but most of them come out fairly decent. I tried numerous recipes but my most favorites are the egg less chocolate cake by KK (a fellow member of the foodie group), semolina banana chocolate cake, paan (betel) flavored cake which I am proud to say is my creation. (I used a butterscotch cake recipe and moved things around). Also I discovered how the cakes taste much better the next day as the flavors intensify. I now have the confidence to use whole wheat flour, sorghum flour or finger millet flour to substitute the bleached all purpose flour in cakes. (It is comparatively healthy!)

My latest cake was an egg less Christmas cake with nuts soaked in rum (first time again). It was soft and a touch dense though the color was a pale brown (MW doesn't change the color of the batter. There will not be any golden top to drool at.)

This is the image of a semolina chocolate banana cake. 

Red!

A new week again and a new challenge. :)

For me, these challenges are a way to learn writing. And I wanted to try a new style of poetry and do it properly, unlike the haiku I messed up last week. :(

Reading the post in YeahWrite I came across the word tritina and saw that it was a poetry form. Luckily I did not have to search for the details about it. The site had a wonderfully easy explanation Here.

I am not really sure if this meets the exact standards but I did give it a try and I am happy about it.

Red

As I pause to smell the rose,

the sky turned a glorious shade of red,

and across the clouds flew a bird.

Landing on a tree, chirped the bird;

swaying to the gentle breeze, the rose

began to paint my garden with red. 

Oh! who knew the colors of red,

shimmering in wings of the bird,

would compete with the marvel of the rose.

As I hold the rose, blood drips red; and the bird swoops down to taste the blood. 

In case you haven't understood what I did in the poem, concentrate on the words at the ending of each line. :) 

Fly High

I found a blog by Ronovan Hester when searching for something. (I usually go off tangent when it comes to searching things on google)
In his blog was a post that hosted Haiku challenges every week. (Yeah!) It's been running since longgg, but the idea of joining it was fun. That too when I am learning to write haiku. (lucky me, touchwood)

So he gives two words and we've got to use those or their synonyms and write a haiku. This week's words are Bold and Daring. In case you wish to participate, visit Ronovan Writes #178.
I am using Brave as a synonym for Daring and writing a 5-7-5 syllable haiku.

 Fly High 

Be bold spread the wings
Brave the wind, the clouds, the rain
Fly high touch the sky.

The Cookie Thieves

“There is no light.”

“But I want one cookie.”

“I can’t see!”

“The candle.”

“There is no match.”

“In the drawer.”

“Found it!”

 “Here. Take only one.”

“Umm..”

The mother laughed silently, watching her sons steal cookies in candle flame. 

Holiday Haiku

Hustle bustle in the house
Children, stockings, sweaters, presents, cookies and music
Angel on the tree top.



P.S: The image was sent to me last year by my best friend. (It was her first snowfall)

Where is my muse?

Where are you?
No response.

What do I do now? The deadline is less than three hours away and here I ma pulling out my already messy hair. Good thing, I don't like to bite my nails or my fingers would have been bleeding by now. The paper stares at me with a blank expression while the screen blinks in disappointment. The fountains, my darlings glare at me in frustration. Well, none are helping me today. Where did my muse run away when I needed it the most, traitor.

"Come on, think of something." I mutter and tear open a slab of chocolate. The burst of bittersweet flavor makes me sigh. At least the chocolate never disappoints. As I close my eyes, I hear a sound but do not bother. It comes again, closer this time; a high pitched scream that makes me jump.

"What! Where!" I look around in confusion. All I find is a little bird sitting on my window. It was hanging precariously from the mosquito net fixed onto the frame. It chirped again and I blinked in wonder.

From where does such a tiny bird gets its voice? It is hardly the size of my thumb while the screech is piercing my ear drums. Ouch!

The birdie balanced on the net, its small feet gripping the holes and not letting go. That was hardly a comfortable position; yet it stayed staring at me. I stared back trying to scare the mini creature, but there was no movement.

I gave up on the staring competition when an idea struck me. The paper filled as words flowed from my fountain. I kept looking towards the bird, it hung on looking at me. The first draft was complete and it chirped again. This time, I smiled and waved. Now the birdie flew away, poking the net once with its long beak.

Laughing, I blew a kiss to my lovely muse hoping it would find the home of it's dreams in my home and come back to stay with me.

IBMC #10: Happiness is

Hey!

We are into the last challenge of the marathon!
For Day #10 we are given a single prompt that has to be used as the starting line to write a paragraph in less than 500 words.

So the prompt given is "Happiness is..." Good one, right?

My first thought was the Happiness page I follow on Facebook. It has such cute sketches and images; I have quite a few saved to my computer. :)

But if you were to ask me what happiness is, I'd say it is the ability to make other's smile, especially kids. Happiness is to see a child hold my finger and not let it go, it is to see a flock of birds flying across the sunset sky, it is to bake a perfect cake, it is to listen to an old song and remember all its lyrics, it is to see my mother happy, it is to read Christie to Holmes, it is to take the exact picture I wanted of sunsets and clouds, it is to see the seeds sprout in my flowerpots.

Happiness is so many tiny things that seem inconsequential in this busy and fast-paced world. It is the ability to be able to live life on one's terms and take time to smell the roses in a garden. And finally, happiness is to listen to the national anthem as the flag flies high!


This post ends the IBMC and I totally enjoyed participating even though there were times when I had no idea what to write.

To read the rest of my posts of this marathon, visit the Main Post. And thank you Prakash Hegade for hosting this challenge.

IBMC #09: Baby Steps

Hii!

We are into the Day #09 challenge of the marathon and this one is slightly different. I have to take a word, sentence, etc and try to look at it from a new perspective. I should be able to think differently from what I would usually do. This sounds easy, but trust me it is not. It is like writing from the POV of an ant, rose or lighthouse (I did those for Microfiction).

I went scrolling down the dictionary app but nothing caught my eye. I typed random quotes on google and went through the images until I got bored. Somehow I wasn't able to find anything interesting. I almost gave up and then this came up. It isn't great or anything but I kind of liked it.

Image Source

The question here is how do I look at this from a different perspective? I honestly have no idea because I belong to the category of people who are masters at this.

But a challenge is a challenge and I have to look at this from a different perspective! Let me think...

Okay! Let us take the example of a crowded bus where everyone is busy trying to make sure they don't trip on other's feet, send a text, etc and most of them are seen either talking to themselves. But there will always be a person or two who will stare at us like we are demented. Does that stop there? No. They then mutter under their breath, "Crazy! Who talks to themselves!"

Now I think you are beginning to see my point. Exactly. Everyone mumbles or mutters and has conversations with themselves. But the difference is people like me accept it as a common condition and carry on while some feel they are special and have the self-control to not talk to themselves. 

What I don't understand is why is it wrong or wired to talk to oneself? It is way safer than talking to a stranger and offending them (especially when people get offended for nothing these days). 

It doesn't mean we are crazy or have multiple personalities unless of course, one starts to enact various characters (Then they definitely need a therapy). 

Even as I write this I read it to part of myself to see how a normal reader might react and you will also be doing the same, except that you will be judging. 

Those who have understood what I wrote above, you guys are awesome. :) 

If you would like to read the rest of my posts of this marathon, visit the Main Post.

IBMC #08: Nursery Rhyme

Hello again!

We are into Day #08 of the challenge, and this is a pretty interesting one. I've got to take a nursery rhyme and give it a new interpretation. Sounds fun, I know. But it needed some research to get things sorted out.

Firstly, each rhyme has a backstory of its own, and I needed to know that before I choose a rhyme. That was when I realized that a good number rhymes have a dark history attached, and we need not actually teach our children those rhymes. Why on earth would I want my child to sing a poem/ rhyme that talks about old England history? I'd rather have them listen and learn the poems we have in our native languages.

Alright, I am deviating from the topic here, so getting back to the challenge. I chose Humpty Dumpty as my rhyme. It was my favorite as a child. I remember the image of an egg-shaped person sitting on a wall and laughing.
But the history of the rhyme is that it was written (supposedly) about King Richard III of England, (now you see what my rant above was all about!) who fell off his horse in the Battle of Bosworth and his enemies hacked him into pieces (gross). He was so mutilated that his men couldn't put his body together and probably left him on the battlefield.

If I were to interpret this rhyme I would rather deal with live humans than dead bodies. So here, my Humpty Dumpty is going to be a person's attitude. Yeah! That sounds good.
Sitting on the wall is cool and fine (wall here is a border, and sitting on a wall implies how some people keep changing sides in any argument to stay with the winner) until their truth comes out, and they are literally pushed aside. Who would want an opportunist to be with them, anyway? They are the most dangerous kind. Well, then this opportunist gets detected and pushed down the wall, and nobody wants to catch them either. So they fall, break their ego or whatever. If, by chance, any optimist wants to help them, it would probably be too late by then. If it is not, I feel sad for the optimist. Some people never learn, and they should be left to deal with their mess alone.


With this half baked interpretation, I end my post for this challenge. I promise I will try and revise it one day. If you wish to read the other posts related to the marathon, visit the Main Post.

IBMC #07: The News and Paper

Hii!

So we are into the Day #07 challenge and for this, I have to write my opinion on a topic or article I choose from the news. It could be anything, I just have to tag along, the link to the article or post a screenshot for reference.

Now, this is the topic I choose to write about. I will be frank and say that I haven't been really that into central politics for a long time. I also belonged to a pretty secular set until I actually started to notice the difference in the news we were being shown on the television and the numerous version I got to read on Facebook and Twitter. Added to it was how some people on Facebook began ranting and abusing Hindus and Brahmins, despite them being Hindus themselves and enjoying the benefits of reservations. That was when I took twitter seriously searched for the right handles to follow and began to track the trend of MSM. 

It did not take me long to notice how the content posted by certain people in Facebook who have some sort of following and the content that was tweeted by the politicians and others in the center was similar. In fact, it was the same stuff, in different languages. 

Coming to the main post, there was a mess about RG signing a declaration as non-Hindu and the Congis showing a picture of visitors' book to prove otherwise. Then suddenly came this man (I have no idea who he is) and declared that RG was not just a Hindu but a Janeu dhari Hindu. I was so stunned reading the post that I did not know if I should be angry or laugh it their stupidity. 

For those who haven't understood, janeu dhari is a brahmin, janeu being the jandyam or the yagnopavetam (I will not call it a thread). The party that has since long been accusing the ruling party of being communal and using caste to divide the citizens is using the same religion and caste to declare RG a suitable candidate for PM of the country. 

From calling Hindus as terrorists to becoming a janeu dhari Hindu RG has truly come a long way in just a matter of few days. (The magic of Gujarat elections!) His party members could kill a calf in public (Kerala) to show this protest and the man is claimed to be a Brahmin! 

My only question here is how can a person whose grandfather is a Parsi, whose mother an Italian Catholic become a janeu dhari Hindu? Do the Congis think we Indians are such fools that we will blindly believe anything they say (just because some puppets actually do)? How can they talk about removing caste-ism when RG can be no one less than a janeu dhari Hindu? Why can he not be a normal Hindu (without caste) or even a Catholic?

The latest being Kapil Sibal who suddenly changed his track and declared the PM as non-Hindu while RG comes from an apparently pure lineage! 

I could go on and on but I will end it here. In case you do not agree with my views you are welcome to stop reading and exit the page. I do not tolerate abuse. 

If you do read the entire article and wish to read more posts of this marathon, visit the Main Post.

P.S: I usually draft my posts a day in advance, hence any last-minute updates may or may not be posted. 

IBMC #06: Mass Media

Hiya!!

Now we are on Day #06 of the marathon, and this is an interesting one. We are given three prompts and should use all three to create a story or a scene.
One is a poem, another a word, and third a picture.

Poem: In,
search of skin,
color no matter,
brighter or darker,
tell no one,
I will take someone,
Ssssshhhhh!
–  ghost, me!

Word:
Telephone

The Telephone

The sky turned pink as I sat watching the rippling lake. It was my favorite place as a child. Years later, I am amazed to see that the rustic wooden fence is still intact. 
"It is to keep the monsters away. The magical fence keeps us safe." My mother would tell me with a wink when I asked her. I would smile and laugh at her words. How good were those days when even monsters and ghosts made me smile!

My mother walked towards me, silent as to not disturb my thoughts. Little did she know that I wanted to be disturbed. 
"Is the monster still alive?" I asked her, knowing the answer.
"It doesn't die, dear." She replied in a soft voice. I nodded, staring at the pink water. The sun was down, yet the sky held on to its shade. 

"The telephone isn't working." She said. 
"I will get it repaired. No one calls anyway apart from me, and I am with you now." I told her, trying to smile. 

She shook her head. "Someone does. Once a week every Saturday night."
"Who, mother?" The tension was evident in my voice. 
"I don't know. I'm not sure if it is male or female. They always say the same thing. They are searching for human skin and threaten to take someone, anyone irrespective of their color. I am not supposed to tell anybody." She answered in a flat voice. 

I stared at her for a minute before pulling her with me. An hour later, the telephone lay at the bottom of the lake, and our stuff in the back seat of my car as we sped away, never to turn back. 


Personally, I did not plan to write a horror story but it turned out to be one, so I am letting it stay.
In case you want to read the other posts of this marathon, visit the Main Post.

IBMC #05: Not So Quite Quote

Hello!

This is the fifth challenge of the marathon already! For this, we are given five quotes in Day #05 as prompts which are to be used to make a story. Now the quotes are not the inspirational types written by big names but random sentences.

Quote 01I am confused at times. Should I sound? Should I echo?

Quote 02
You need not answer all the questions! You can just laugh and laugh again.

Quote 03
Thoughts – they do what we don’t ask for!

Quote 04
I knew it! That I don’t know!

Quote 05
At times, we pretend to think on one and actually think everything else!

So I start with no idea and end up with the following jumble of words. I tried a unique POV, hope you like it.

Who am I?

Deep down, pushed and locked in a corner, I sit smugly knowing what I am capable of. But I am confused at times. Should I sound? Should I echo? Is it even worth the pain? So many questions, yet you need not answer all the questions! You can just laugh and laugh again. Yes, that is what one should do. But then again, what about the thoughts? They do what we don't ask for! I, being me, the most powerful, cannot control those. Why at times, we pretend to think on one and actually think everything else! There's nothing to worry about, it happens to all of us, even me. I can make you laugh, cry or just shatter, in fraction of a minute, but I am not in control of all.  Of course, I knew it! That I don't know! and that you haven't understood who I am. Have you not guessed yet? Looks like you haven't and that is my strength. I can hit you any time, any place and you are helpless of stopping me. I am your memories, the ones you think are buried under a pile of other nonconsequential data.


This is the end of my story. I know it needs some editing, but till I get that done you'll have to bear with this one. If you want to read the other posts of this marathon, visit the Main Post.

IBMC #04: Haiku

Hello again!

It is time for Day #04 challenge and this one is actually simple. The post gives five haiku options from which I've got to choose one and work on it.

I could interpret it, extend it or write a new one in relation to it. I chose the first one and no, I am not giving any interpretations. I am writing a new haiku in relation to this one.

Haiku is essentially a seventeen syllable poem written in three lines, with 5 words in the first line, 7 in the second line and 5 in the third line. Or a shorter version has 3, 5, 3 words like the prompt given.

Haiku 01
expressions of face
happy sad angry frown shy
face is the index


So I am writing the same shorter version.

Eyes

Depth of eyes
Spark freeze wink flash glare
Soul's windows. 

And it's done. :) Simple, right? To read the other posts of this challenge, please visit the Main Post.

IBMC #03: Risk a Random Challenge

Hiya!!

We are into the Day #03 challenge and this one is all about going for the random stuff. I have got to write ten sentences that have absolutely no connection to each other and make a story that has no sense. Interesting isn't it. Why waste time, then. Let's get started. ;)

The Random Ramblings

It has been so long since I read a Christie book! Isn't pink supposed to have a dozen shades in it? Only if people had enough sense to follow traffic rules. Can't we give voodoo dolls as birthday gifts? When was the last time you ate ice cream, yummy! Does my twitter handle have 280 characters yet? Finger painting sounds so cool until we try to understand what we drew. Editing apps are as important as a camera. It would be interesting to see how people react to stories with weird POVs. Why am I not a millionaire already!

Lol! Seriously no one would call that a story! But yes, it was fun writing it. In case you decide to read the other posts as well, go to the Main Post.

IBMC #02: Freeze a Foto

Hi again!

Nice to see you here. The challenge for Day #02 is to write the memories associated with a picture or just describe it. Now this is easy, isn't it? I have like loads of pictures to choose from and I can write whatever I feel like about it. ;)

My first thought was to go for my absolute favorites, the sunsets, and the clouds. But then I already have a series, The Eternal Sky on the blog related to that. (Yes, I am promoting my blog.)

So what do I choose? My next favorites, of course, are farms and fields. I love to take pictures of the rich green lands which shine like emeralds.

After going through the dozens of pictures, I chose the above one. Just see how cute it looks. :) 

This was taken in the Siddipet district in Telangana on a hot Saturday afternoon. Yeah! We, as in me and my parents were on the way to a temple when I saw a stretch of rich paddy fields shimmering in the sunlight. I wanted to stop and take pictures but then decided it would be better to do that on the way back (I can spend more time taking pictures). 

Even as you look at the picture, you might realize that it does not do complete justice to the original sight, despite my photography skills. ;) I was itching to touch one blade, pull it and bring it home with me, but I resisted. It is not proper manners, especially when the owner is nowhere in sight. 

All I have to do is close my eyes, and I can feel the hot sun burning my skin as I stooped, bent, swayed to take pictures of the emerald land from different angles. 

What else can I call it, anyway? The water reflected sunlight onto the tender rice saplings which shine like ninja blades (bad comparison!). Just looking at the vast fields makes one realize that this isn't just food for the tummy, it is a treat for the eyes, an elixir of the soul. It is a work of art where nature and humans come together to create it. 

I am ending this post, and if you want to read other posts as well (of this challenge), please visit the Main Post. 

IBMC #01: The Cool and The Fool

Hello!

So I start my first challenge and I've got to write my opinion on any one of the topics given in Day #01. It has to be around 100 words with a single line summary at the end.

The topics are all interesting, you'll see that if you have visited the link (please do) and I chose to write about 'The Cool and The Fool' mostly on instinct.

I started with a paragraph but ended with a poem! One lesson I learned was not to write on such topics immediately after getting off twitter. Sigh!

I was in two minds to change it and write another but decided against it.

Presenting my poem:

If you are my friend;
You say apple, I say take mine.
You want help, I waste my time.
You are argue your point, I agree with a smile.
You have opinions, I only follow yours.
If you are my enemy;
You say mango, I say it is blue.
You want help, I mess it for you.
You argue your point, I deny its existence.
You have opinions, I abuse your right.
After all, I am a fool who thinks I am the 'cool dude'.

The line between being cool and a fool is no more visible!

I know, I know and I am so sorry for this pathetic poem. I have written pretty good ones, I swear. You can even read those here.

But if you still want to dare and read the next posts (which will be a lot better), please visit this Main Post which has links to all the ten days of challenges.

Incredible Blogger Marathon Challenge (IBMC)- Introduction

This must be my lucky month with me being able to finish my first ever NaNoWriMo successfully. Then I come across a site that has weekly challenges for bloggers and now a link to IMBC which is the blogger marathon challenge. (I am adding these posts in the "Random Thoughts" section of my blog just to make it easier.)

For this marathon, I should write ten posts in the given order (visit the above link) with no more than three posts per day. The entire marathon has to be completed in fifteen days. I found this totally interesting and wanted to take part. The event host is none other than Prakash Hegade, one of the NaNo MLs for India who also hosted daily sprints (the only ones I joined) in our Facebook group. 

I am creating this introduction post so that it will be easy to find the links to all the ten posts in one place. I will add links to the individual posts as and when I post them in the next fifteen days. The individual posts will of course have the back-link to the challenge prompts given in the site.

Challenge #01: The Cool and The Fool

Challenge #02: Freeze a Foto

Challenge #03: Risk a Random Challenge

Challenge #04: Haiku

Challenge #05: Not So Quite Quote

Challenge #06: Mass Media

Challenge #07: News & Paper

Challenge #08: Nursery Rhyme

Challenge #09: Baby Steps

Challenge #10: Happiness is...

And.... We are done! This sure was fun! :) 

Kiss of Rain

I came across a site, YeahWriteMe that hosts weekly challenges for poetry, fiction, non fiction, etc for bloggers.

Going through the site I found this week's challenge open and decided I would take part. It is not just random participation though. We got to get the challenge logo (read code) in our blog and show that we are the participants of that particular challenge. Then we have to add the link to the post in the website grid allotted for this particular category.

Each blogger can submit one entry per grid, meaning I can submit only one poem but I can participate in the non-fiction and micro prose as well. Interesting, isn't it?

I didn't need much time to think, it would be poetry for me. :) So I went ahead, added the image and then read the challenge.

This week's challenge (it'll be open until thursday morning 8 to participate) is to write a cascade poem on any topic or using the prompt they give. Here is the link: Weekly Challenge #346

Cascade poem is something I haven't tried before. It is a style where we use the lines in the first stanza as a the last lines of the consecutive stanzas. Yeah! I know it sounds confusing. Just read the poem I've written and you'll understand what a cascade poem is.

I am not using the optional prompt they provided and I'm sticking to one of the paintings by Mrs Ratna Pochiraju. I have been wanting to write for this painting since the day I saw but, somehow I could never get any proper idea; until yesterday. :)

Kiss Of Rain 

The tiny plant gazed at the sky,
dark and full, it was ready to burst,
the clouds showered their love,
and the rain drops kissed the grass.

On the carpet of grass,
stood a taller stem,
with eight leaves and two fruits,
the tiny plant gazed at the sky.

Up and high above the land,
as far as eye could see,
the sky loomed threatening,
dark and full, it was ready to burst.

Bless me with rain.
the plant asked,
as the grass chorused, and 
the clouds showered their love.

The sky opened its gates,
as the rain rushed below,
tickling and teasing the plant, 
and the rain drops kissed the grass. 

Dancing Grey

Grey was the only color;
dark clouds looming above,
thick mist swirling around,
huge waves splashing against the cliff.
Threatening to swallow everything.

Yet, it drew her;
She glided along the path,
a vision in blue and pink so pale,
her presence a mere illusion.
The grey closed over her. 

She stood straight;
pink blended with the mist,
as tears rolled down,
tiny drops into the salted sea.
There was nothing left but grey.

A thunder roared above;
Eyes closed, she flung her arms,
as she danced and danced,
fighting the scary dark.
The vision in pink, could keep the grey away.

Painting by Mrs Ratna Pochiraju

The Memoirs of an Eighty year Old- Episode XXV

Episode: Grandma’s 75^th Birthday

Hello readers! I couldn’t post in October because I had other things to work on and also because grandpa and grandma were busy and my stock of episodes was over. This month I’ll be posting only one episode (pre-written).

So it was our dear grandma’s birthday in October and she was turning 75! It had to be something special, right? But well you guys know her so you also know how tough it is to convince her to celebrate her own birthday. Sigh!

But we just couldn’t sit idle now, could we? So I hit upon a plan which was of course executed by granddaughter NS. She is currently staying with them, how lucky for us!
For grandpa’s birthday a scrapbook was made with handwritten messages, but.. but.. grandma will not read all those pages. And also giving both a similar gift, not really innovative. ;)

Then flashed the idea of audio and video messages in the brain. We could make her sit and listen to those, right? Haha.. joke…

We asked for messages and got a few audios and many texts. The audios were, of course, amazing, the one by their daughter Sj (3^rd child) was the first we received and the best, in my opinion. (She’s a teacher!)
So albums were searched, pictures collected and constant reminders were posted in the Whatsapp group. But we needed icing on the cake. It was grandpa’s message. When the video version had the voice too low, we shifted to the audio version. He was such a sport, recording a 4-minute message for almost 5 times isn’t really interesting but he did it with enthusiasm.

Now it was the job of Sj to make a video out of all those. We had 3 voice messages (the other was from grandson A) and a good number of text messages, not to forget a good load of pictures.

She toiled for hours to finally get a 19-minute video ready. The problem here- 690MB sized video. We compressed it twice and brought it down to 60MB. Uff! After sending it to the family members (drive link) we played it on the telly( Chrome cast, Thank God for that). Granny would have never seen the video otherwise, she hates mobile phones.
Here comes the main part. Making her sit that long was tough but to actually make her listen to the messages was impossible. She kept delivering her famous one-liners and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Though I am tempted to write here a few of those I am not going to do it, just to be on the safe side. Next, I played the video I made for her. Here’s a collage of it. (The idea was planted in my mind by granddaughter Ap, thanks girl).

The highlight of course, was the cutest video of grandma thanking her kids for the lovely wishes. I could see that she hated it (her message video), but well a mother doesn’t disappoint. J

So finally the day ended with everyone watching the video and thinking about the sweet memories as they recognized the pictures that scrolled by on the screen.


Meet you again in December, hopefully with the continuation of their story. Till then, be happy, be good. 

Day 31:My Experince

Day 31: Final day of the challenge

Well, today is the last day of the 31 days challenge and I totally enjoyed it. Yeah! I couldn't write for the past  6 days, got too many other things to occupy my time and energy. But since today is the last day, I wanted to write something about how it felt.

I wrote short fiction in less than 700 words for my 31 days challenge. For inspiration, I used the daily prompts given by WritersWrite. They gave amazing prompts which made me think real hard.

Most of the stories were a delight to write and one day I'd love to expand those into much better and structured short stories. Hope those who've patiently read my works felt as good as I felt writing those. :)

Next year, I'm definitely up for this challenge. Till then, hope you enjoy reading the other posts of mine. See you. :)

Day 24: Friends Meet

Hello! 

Its Day 24 of the 31 days challenge and I am using the prompt given by Writers Write to help me write for this challenge and let me tell you this- the prompts are amazing! You can follow them om twitter at Writers_Write for daily prompts.

Today's prompt is to write about long-distance friends who meet for the first time in fifteen years. In this age of technology where we have Skype and Video calling, one must admit it takes away all the fun and excitement of meeting a long-distance friend after years. So I am going to set my story in a period when there were no mobile phones or internet.

Precious Moments

"Kathy,

I cannot even describe how I'm feeling right now. We have been writing letters to each other all these years and finally, we get to meet tomorrow. I guess I got used to writing to you each day. Can't wait to see you in person.

Love,

Rose."

"Rose! I am so excited to read that we finally will meet tomorrow. You must know that Spotty is equally excited, I am going to bring him tomorrow. And let us wear the dresses we gifted each other. I'll be waiting near the pond in the west-park. 

Love,

Kathy."

The Next Day..

In West-park..

"Kathy!"

"Rose!"

Two women in their sixties squealed and hugged each other. The public stared at them, some in disbelief and others with a smile on their faces. 

"Finally! You look just like I imagined. Red looks perfect on you." Kathy exclaimed clapping her hands.

Blushing, Rose replied. "So do you, Kathy. Somehow I knew emerald green would match your eyes. Is this Spotty? He is so cute." 

The said Spotty was staring at them with his superior expression. He patiently endured their gushing and cuddling for the next few minutes. Kathy took Rose to her home and they sat giggling and eating muffins. 

"All these years we have written each other so many letters and not we have nothing to say. Strange!" Rose said stroking Spotty who was feeling at home in her lap. 

"Do we really need to talk, Rose?" Kathy asked smiling. 

Grinning, Rose shook her head. "We have spoken enough in letters. You are right. All our lives we shared so many things with each other; our joys, sorrows, troubles and wins. Now let us share this solitude for a while."

They sat in the cosy little room sipping tree and staring at the fire as the snow began to fall around them. They needed no words to express themselves, after all these years. The bond was stronger than any other relation. One accidental letter sent to a wrong address brought two women together and gave them a chance to love life again. 

Keep visiting the page for more stories. 

Day 23: Three View Points

Hello! New week is here!

Its Day 23 of the 31 days challenge and I am using the prompt given by Writers Write to help me write for this challenge and let me tell you this- the prompts are amazing! You can follow them om twitter at Writers_Write for daily prompts.

Today's prompt is to describe my protagonist from three different view points. Have to find a way to weave a story around this one. 

Let Her Be

The classroom was totally silent as Lily taught her students History. It was a boring subject until she took over when the previous teacher left school. The students listened with rapt attention as she explained about world wars in her sing-song voice. 

"I wonder how she does it?" Maggie was in awe of Lily. 

"It's her looks. They stare at her and act. Of course she has a good voice as well." Emma replied shrugging like it wasn't a big deal.

"Oh! come on. If they only stared at her they wouldn't be scoring such good grades. She is beautiful, but she is also a good teacher. Maybe I'll take some tips from her and so should you." Maggie responded. She knew how Emma felt about Lily. 

Looking flushed, Emma retorted. "No, thank you Maggie. I am not interested. She might be everyone's favorite but not mine. I have a class to teach."

Maggie chuckled to herself. How she enjoyed teasing Emma. 

"You shouldn't do that, Maggie." Lily warned her.

"Let her, Lily. She deserves it. And the Principal wants to talk to you. Go." Laura added from her desk grinning.

 "She is too kind. I think we should toughen her up a little." Laura said to Maggie. 

Thinking bout it, Maggie replied. "Maybe, but again maybe not."

Laura stared at her an then burst out laughing. "Yeah!!  If she isn't this good anymore, how will Emma feel! We don't want to trouble her now, do we?"

"Exactly. So let Lily be Lily." Maggie replied and they had a good laugh. 

The above written short fiction is just a fragment of a story. It can be changed as per choice. 

Day 22: Antagonist

Hello! Happy Sunday!

Its Day 22 of the 31 days challenge and I am using the prompt given by Writers Write to help me write for this challenge and let me tell you this- the prompts are amazing! You can follow them om twitter at Writers_Write for daily prompts.

Today's prompt focuses on the antagonist. I am to write about that one lesson which stuck with my antagonist. To be frank my stories usually do not have a specific antagonist but I need one for this prompt so why not make him/her my lead character.

Evil Never Wins

I know I haven't got much time, only a few minutes left. No matter what the doctors say, I can feel death near me. This must be how others felt as well. Now as my entire life flashes before my eyes I finally realize how right my mother was. 

"Change when you still have a chance, boy.  It will we too late by the time you learn your lesson; evil can never win." she constantly advised til her last breath. Now breathing my last, I regret not listening to her. I had a reason, a justification for everything I did. I defended my actions to an extent where nothing else mattered to me anymore. 

I was supposed to be an opportunist, surely that was as bad. I wasn't born evil neither did my mother raise a devil. I became one myself. Blaming the society is easy. trust me on that. But now lying on the hospital bed with tubes attached to me I understand what a fool I was. I was evil because I enjoyed being the devil everyone feared. It seems I have to pay for all those years with my death. Maybe this is for the better, I can never live another life. 

Mother knew this would happen when she wanted me to die with repentance. I shall fulfill her wish. I will embrace my death with this precious lesson I refused to learn until it was too late. Adieu. 

This is more of a monologue than a story, yet it is short fiction. 

Day 21: President

Hello! Weekend's here! 

Its Day 21 of the 31 days challenge and I am using the prompt given by Writers Write to help me write for this challenge and let me tell you this- the prompts are amazing! You can follow them om twitter at Writers_Write for daily prompts.

The prompt for today is to write about what my main characters would think about the President of my country. I am from India we have slightly different rules. We have a Parliamentarian form of Government unlike the Presidential form of Government in some countries. That means it the Parliament headed by the Prime Minister which takes decisions.

Also our President was elected recently, on 25th July, 2017, so I am in a dilemma as to what I should be writing for this prompt. Maybe I'll just create a fictional President as well. I am writing short fiction for this after all. Time to bring out the thinking cap. ;)

The Nosy President

Ga Ga Land has finally elected it President, The Nosy after months of discussions and debates. He was liked by majority of the Gnomes because of his ability to help others. Yet as always there were some who felt he was too interfering and thought that was because he had the longest nose in their land.  

One day a monkey reporter from animal kingdom visited their land to do a story on the newly elected President. 

"He is the best! I don't know what I would have done without his help." The old cook said as she knead the pastry dough. 

"What did he do?" the monkey asked scribbling on his notepad. 

"Well, he saved and helped me collect all the nuts that rolled away. I was carrying home a bag nuts when a naughty little fella tried to snatch it from me. Nosy came by and scared the child away. He then stayed with me to find and pick all the nuts." she replied wiping her hands on the gray apron. 

The monkey next went to the cobbler. "What do you think about your new President?" he asked ready to take notes.

Grinning, the shabby cobbler replied. "Oh Nosy! He's a good man, always ready to help. Why only last week he carried the load of coal  for me from the forest edge. My back aches, you see."

"But will be do it even now?" monkey was curious.

The cobbler waved his hammer saying he definitely would. "Nosy can't stay away, you know. Its his long nose." 

Next the monkey visited the gardener who was busy raking the fallen leaves. Before he could even ask the reply came in a series of grunts and words. "I know.. Nosy.. Good enough, I suppose. Wanted to help me once... Me! I have 40 years.. experience in my job... Told him straight... not to bother me.. can help others... they love him.. not me.. Tried to teach me... my job.. I know more... His mother should have.. cut that... nose.. when young... Pick up that leaf.."

The monkey nodded in earnest and gently added a leaf to the pile. Thanking the gardener who grunted in response he went back to his office in the cave. The article was published in the monthly Animal Ga Ga magazine. 

Hope you enjoyed reading this. Keep visiting for more stories.