Quote Challenge – Day Three

I have been nominated for 3 Day Quote Challenge by Deepika , She is published author of Dance Dream and two days ago her new book Ethereal : The Dawn of the Blue from her Ethereal series  got released on kindle and the paperback is out in USA. She is one of my closest blogger friend , who never seizes from motivating me to write more

Thank you so much for pushing me to come out of my laziness shackles and take up this challenge.

My theme for this challenge is quotes on women by some really phenomenal women around the world. I took up this theme because currently in India, we are observing Navratri  a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga.

Here are my three favourite quotes for the day

“No one knows what you have been through or what your pretty little eyes have seen, but I can reassure you ~ whatever you have conquered, it shines through your mind.”
― Nikki Rowe

“Everything is within your power,
and your power is within you.”
― Janice Trachtman

“She made broken look beautiful
and strong look invincible.
She walked with the Universe
on her shoulders and made it
look like a pair of wings.”
― Ariana Dancu

PS : Please people don’t forget to grab your copy of the first installment of this fantastic series I am reading mine right now you go read yours 🙂

Quote Challenge – Day Two

I have been nominated for 3 Day Quote Challenge by Deepika , She is published author of Dance Dream and yesterday her new book Ethereal : The Dawn of the Blue from her series  got released on kindle and the paperback is out in USA. She is one of my closest blogger friend , who never seizes from motivating me to write more

Thank you so much for pushing me to come out of my laziness shackles and take up this challenge.

My theme for this challenge is quotes on women by some really phenomenal women around the world. I took up this theme because currently in India, we are observing Navratri  a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga.

Here are my three favourite quotes for the day

• I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
  ― Charlotte Brontë

• “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” —Ayn Rand

• “A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” — Diane Mariechild

PS : Please people don’t forget to grab your copy of the first installment of this fantastic series 🙂 I am reading mine right now 😀 you go read yours 😉

Zoo : Day 26 of A-Z Challenge

Life is a zoo in a jungle.

My first memory of our country’s capital, Delhi, is of visiting National Zoological Park.

Mathur aunty use to live in our building that too on our floor. Mathur uncle use to work with my father, while aunty was a homemaker like my mother.

The sad part of their life was that they didn’t have children. They liked my brother but they loved me more. One summer evening she asked my parents whether she can take us to Delhi for a week. My parents were very apprehensive about it and told her that they will think about it. Meanwhile aunty divulged her plan to us and we got ready to accompany her.

My brother insisted my parents to let us go, so after much persistence, they gave in. Our bags were packed, mom gave a long list of dos and don’t s and we happily left our home to explore a new city.

After resting for a day, we went to see the zoo. I still remember the big stone with an inscribed name of the park.

The beautiful small lake at the entry where white ducks were playing.

The different colourful birds sitting on small branches of trees. The hopping monkey’s inside a small cage , where people were offering them bananas from outside. The sleeping crocodile lying in cool pool of water. So many peacocks dancing on the fences together.

The big black tiger with brown eyes staring right back at me. Seeing big lion called bababar sher( the toughest among the lion clan) roaming inside a big area which also had small lake for him. Big fox inside a room which had a small window for peeking visitors. The big rhinoceroses behind a big wall, for showing them my uncle had to pick me up on his shoulders. The lazy hippopotamus inside a marsh.

It is what all I can remember from my first visit to zoo in Delhi when I was four years old.

This all came flashing back when my four-year old nephew recently visited a zoological park in Mysore and came back with interesting stories for me. We discussed how all animals looked like , to the voices they were making , to the activities they were involved in. It was indeed great to go back down the memory lane, once again.

PS: Share your story of first zoological park visit or wild life century?

This my attempt for the Twenty-sixth day of the A-Z Challenge.

 

Day 26:Z(alphabet)

Yarn: Day 25 of A-Z Challenge

Story of yarns and me

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Beautiful yarns of different colours, is what winter reminds me. The warmth of hand knitted sweaters by my mother in jittery winters was like a covering protecting us from cold and evil eyes.

Those narrow lanes of city market, walking miles holding my mother’s hand, just to get yarns of wool of better quality in a cheaper prize. Selecting one single colour amongst the hundreds of beautiful brightly coloured yarns.

My mother calculating the quantity required for me, thinking it should be more than what she bought last year,because I was growing like an eucalyptus.

She would put hank of yarn over her knees and would begin wrapping the yarn around her thumb and first three fingers.

She would she change the  directions every now and then, moving her hands very fast. A nice beautiful even ball of yarn that feeds pleasingly from the centre. I was then asked to bring needle box, which was a white coloured old drinking bottle which served as needle case.

They were generally white in colour with number written on square part at one end side. The size of needle is very important while knitting because large stitches can be made with large needles, whereas fine knitting requires fine needles.

I use to gather small left out pieces from the yarn and make cat whiskers. It was a fun game to play with.

Sometimes I was asked to hold the yarn from one end so that mom could make the base of the ball, the centre part.

A yarn teaches us so many things in a simple way. Clearly up things before you plunge into something. One wrong move can really make your life bit messy and last but not the least, a beautiful well made ball looks beautiful to others but only the one who made it knows the pain they took, to make it so.

 

This my attempt for the Twenty-fifth day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 25:Y(alphabet)

X-Ray : Day 24 of A-Z Challenge

I was 11year old when I first saw an X-ray report. My grandfather has injured his spine while traveling in a rickshaw.

One day he came back from market and complained about pain in his lower back. He was quite overweight and we thought may be sitting for too long on rickshaw must have caused it. My father massaged his back with lukewarm mustard oil. But the pain still rmained.

So he was taken to orthopedic surgeon for a check-up and from there he returned with brown paper bag. I waited for everyone to settle down, so that I can peek into the envelope.

Once mom and dad got busy in discussing what the doctor has advised, I slowly grabbed the envelope and stealthily moved in the next room.

I opened the envelope and saw a black transparent thick sheet with some blurred image on it. It liked what I saw and it created a curiosity to know more about it.

I searched books in library to know more about x-ray, how it worked, and what the machine is called and so on. This how I fall in love with biology and took it up as my main subject in school. Though I never did anything great in that field but I still love to read about human body.

This my attempt for the Twenty-fourth day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 24:X(alphabet)

Waistline :Day 23 of A-Z Challenge

Today I have very small story to tell, it’s an incident of the time when I use to have a very narrow waistline.

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15^th August (Independence Day of India) was approaching and like every year our school was participating in dance competition that was held at district level.

Our music teacher came in our class and selected some student for the competition. It used to take place in a large city stadium, hence 200 students were selected from whole school.

The dance number was an old folk song welcoming the season of rain. In northern India rain arrives in month of July. So the song was totally appropriate.

One day before the final dance competition, we were called out for dress rehearsal. For girls the dress was colorful ghagra and choli and for boys it was dhoti and kurta.

Every group was allotted a particular color and was asked to try on their dresses. My group was given red color bottom and red top. I wore it and tried to tie the side knot. I tried to make it tight as much as possible and ran out for the dress practice.

Continuous jumping for the dance, loosened the knot and the ghagra started slipping a bit. While everyone was busy in dancing I was busy in holding my ghagra. My math’s teacher saw that someone was causing the problem in the coordination, so she came near us and stood watching me. She smiled and tied my knot, and said “No matter, how tight the knot may be, it will eventually slip, because there is no waist to hold it “.

Next day for the final she checked my knot a few times and for precaution used my school belt to tighten the grip of the dress.

PS: Has your waist ever been a talking point?

This my attempt for the Twenty-third day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 23:W(alphabet)

 

 

 

Vaccination: :Day 22 of A-Z Challenge

“Sometimes vaccination can be fun”

Today my story is about vaccination, and a child’s reaction to it.

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It was hot summer noon, she draped her eight month old daughter in a small towel to protect her from loo (a strong, hot and dry summer afternoon wind from the west which blows over the western Indo-Gangetic Plain region of North India and Pakistan).

In a small bag she kept a small water bottle for both of them and a feeding bottle for baby girl. Today for the first time she was taking her daughter out of their home that too alone. She was bit nervous didn’t knew how her baby would react on seeing strangers.  But she can’t post-pone this visit further, her daughter’s BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis) vaccination was long due. She could not further delay after knowing how tuberculosis could be fatal.

She held her daughter one side and the pink baby bag on another. She decided to walk to the hospital instead of taking a rickshaw. The baby was calm but her eyes were exploring, trying to capture all the things around her. The outer world was so lively and full of people that the child was getting more and more excited.

Than they came near a school and the school bell was ringing, and children were rushing out of the school. Some seemed happy to be free, some were dull and sleepy.

Her daughter who till than saw only her brother’s face started smiling at every passing child. Trying to get out of her mother’s arm. She started waving her hands towards all the strangers and loosened her grip on her mother’s saree. She laughed seeing a boy who made a funny face looking at her.

It was getting difficult to hold her but somehow she managed and took her to the hospital. The girl smiled, on seeing her pediatrician. She didn’t wept, when they gave her vaccination, just a little quiver for it.

She knew that day her daughter would grow up to be an extrovert and one without fear of natural fearing things.

PS: Tell me your one interesting vaccination experience ?

This my attempt for the Twenty-second day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 22:V(alphabet)

 

 

 

 

Uniform :Day 21 of A-Z Challenge

When you put on a uniform, there are certain inhibitions that you accept.

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In India school uniform is mandatory in all schools. Every school has its own type and color of dresses.

Today I am going to tell you one small incident of my life where the clothing which is created for maintaining the  uniformity in school, created a big rift among the students.

Our school uniform included a checked kurta of grey,brown and white color, a plain dark brown salwar with a white cotton dupatta. The school was one of the most prestigious school of our town yet the dress was old-fashioned. The girls of our school always felt inferior from girls of other  schools.

Our school bus stop was in same area and our winter timings were also same but we stood opposite to each others like arch rivals.

One day on a jittery cold winter morning we were standing on our bus stop with our cold hands tucked inside our blazers pocket. Suddenly I realized I have forgotten to bring 50 rupees that was needed for some aptitude examination in school.

I saw my neighbor standing across the street, with her school friends. I asked my class fellow to accompany me. We both went to her  and I asked her to come aside , she walked with me and I told her that I needed money and if she could land me some, that would be of great help.

She took out a 50 rupees from her blazer’s inside pocket and gave me. I smiled and started leaving, suddenly I realized I was accompanied by my friend who was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and saw her standing across the street.

I crossed the road and came to her, and asked her the reason of coming back without letting me know, she looked in my eyes, and I saw traces of tears in the corner of her eye. I asked her what happened, she told me that while I was busing talking with my friend, the others made fun of her school uniform and called her names just because she was not wearing short skirt as school uniform.

Sometimes things don’t go the way they should go. The one who brought the concept of uniform didn’t knew that one day someone would be mocked down just for it.

PS: Tell your story if you felt humiliated someday because someone asked you, to maintain the uniformity .

This my attempt for the Twenty-first day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 21:U(alphabet)

 

 

 

Tea Time : Day 20 of A-Z Challenge

 

When you are a little girl, you try to copy your mother.

Not realizing, a shadow is always bit bigger or smaller than the real person,but never same,never ever same .

Today it’s about a daughter who always wanted to fit in her mother’s shoes.

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When I was 2 years old, my aunt gifted me a tea set. At first, I use to play it alone, but then I noticed how my mother used her tea cups. So one day at her tea time, I placed my two playing tea cups on small tray and served it to her. She smiled and asked me what it has, I said its tea for her and me. She took it and acted as if she is drinking from the empty cup.

I looked at her and said “Ma, sudak karo”(make the noise of gulping the tea) . She laughed and did the same.

My this game of serving her empty tea cups continued until I learned a new way. This time my mother was sitting with her friend, I took my filled tea cups for them. My mother’s friend looked at me and laughed. She asked me “ Dear, what’s in it”. I told her that I made tea for both of them. They took the cups and started drinking from it. It was sugared water made by a 4-year-old girl.

After two years, one dusky evening, when I turned six, I served tea to my parents in my small cups. This time it was grinded biscuit mixed with water.

It was a dull summer evening, I was sleeping with my mother. I looked at her face and felt that she was in deep slumber. I got out of bed and went to kitchen. After almost 15 minutes I came out with one cup of tea this time in my mother’s cup. I woke her up and she looked at me with surprise . I can never forget that expression of happiness and bewilderment on her face.

On that day I realized how much I like to be in her shoes.

PS : Girls share your kitchen set playing story? Or share first tea making time ?

This my attempt for the Twentieth day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 20:T(alphabet)

Sleep Talk: Day 19 of A-Z Challenge

When things are left, unsaid, we say them in our sleep.

Sleep talking, formally known as somniloquy, is a sleep disorder defined as talking during sleep without being aware of it.

I use to do lot of sleep talking when I was a kid but as I grew up, I got out of this problem. And now I am on another side, remembering other people’s sleep talk. Today, my story is about one such remembrance.

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I was almost 12 years old then and my cousin brother who was 3 years younger to me came for a stay at our place for few days. His parents were going for our uncle’s wedding. My parents who were always too concerned about our studies decided that only my father would be attending the wedding. So it was four of us, me, my brother , my cousin brother and mom.

It was a month of November, back then, we use to have 3 time examination system. Half yearly in August , secondly in mid November and finals in March. My cousin was very notorious kid, actually he was impossible kid, controlling whom required special tactics. My mother who had two sober kids didn’t knew how to handle him. So from morning she kept asking him to study for examination but he did everything except studying.

Now my mom lost all her calm and patience, asked him to show in her written that he knew everything too well. My cousin who for the first time saw my mom so angry, started crying. Mom got so worried that she didn’t say anything to him after it.

So next day when mom didn’t asked him to study he got little worried, but didn’t said anything to anyone. He use to sleep with me during that time.

Around 12 am, I heard some loud noise, I opened my eyes and saw that my cousin was reiterating his Social studies answer. It was like as if standing on dais and giving a speech. I jerked him, but he kept going. So I kicked him hard, and he opened his eyes, looked at me and then said “ Di, why are you awake, come sleep.” And went back to snoring.

After that day I use to avoid sleeping with him,as I sleep lightly.

His sleep talking, was a good training period for me. I never feared sleep talkers again in fact a good number of my room-mates have been active sleep talkers 😉

PS : Tell me any incident where you witnessed sleep talking or where you were the one doing it ?

This my attempt for the Nineteenth day of the A-Z Challenge.

Day 19:S(alphabet)