The Cure !!

The young boy sitting on the sidewalk was repeating the same thing for the past five minutes.

His palm on his cheek. Then on his knees.

Cheek, Knee.

Cheek ,Knee.

“ What are you doing ? “, he asked the child.

“ Putting mommy’s kisses on my knees. I hurt myself while playing. Mommy says her kisses protect me always. I’m putting them on my knees”, the boy chirped.

 He felt his heart begin to heal…

“I was tempted to end my own life ! Why should I, God, when you’re with me !”, he cried.

He'd seen the right path, his faith back in action !

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
This week's challenge is that the post must contain , " I was tempted."

Linking this to 100 Words on Saturday 2014 # 9 at Write Tribe.

 

The Beginning.....

Today I’ll begin to travel back,

Back through the embers of time;

Time has bequeathed a lot of lessons,

Lessons that make the heart chime…..

Today I’ll begin to count my riches

Riches that fill me with bliss;

Bliss so supreme, so full of glory,

Glory that I’ll never want to miss…..

Today I’ll begin to live my thoughts,

Thoughts that flavour my senses       

Senses which form my hours and days,

Days with no pretences……

Today I’ll begin to grow my wings,

Wings will help me soar high ;

High up above the birds and clouds,

Clouds that line the blue sky….

Today I’ll begin to shine the light,

Light that lives in my soul;

Soul so vibrant, so full of love,

Love that makes me whole…..

Today I’ll begin to nourish my life,

Life that’s precious and small;

Small , yet big to achieve my dreams, 

Dreams make me live, after all !

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This is a Loop Poetry. Read two other versions here and here.

 

Linking this to Wednesday Prompt 2014 # 10 at Write Tribe.

Tiny Love.....



“You’re selfish, haughty, arrogant ,useless ! How dare you speak to me this way ? I’ll just throw you out of this car, mind you ! ” Philip shouted at me as he drove.

The usual fight, a bit more severe this time.

I sat on the seat behind, silent tears heating my eyes.

Our two-year-old daughter on my lap was unusually silent.

“Oh ! why didn’t I keep quiet ! ”, I scolded myself mentally,  for being tactless.

A tiny finger came up and wiped my tears.

I looked at her, she smiled.

To me, her smile seemed a promise of the greatest love of all !

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This post is being linked to the 100 Words on Saturday Prompt - 8 at Write Tribe.

The prompt for the weekend is " The greatest love of all ".

Join us in the A to Z Challenge this April, here. The linky is open for a few more days :-)

If you've already joined, do reveal your theme and check out wonderful themes for the A to Z , as revealed here.  This linky will close in  two days, so hurry up :-) :-)

Here we come, A to Z !! ( A to Z Theme Reveal post)

Hurray !! The much awaited day is here !

The day when we, the excited A-to-Zers, unveil the surprise and shine the torches upon the secret that’s awaiting April !

For those who are new to the idea, the A to Z is an Annual Mega Event in the blogosphere, that brings together more than 2500 bloggers across the globe. Through the month of April, we write 1 post per day for 26 days , each day’s post signifying a letter of the English Alphabet , beginning with A on April 1^st, B on April 2^nd and so on.

Oh yes, Sundays are off, so that all 26 letters get perfectly and comfortably ensconced in our blogs :D

So what do we write about ?

Anything, everything, as long as it has something to do with the letter for the day.

We can theme, or we can be random about the topics.

No pressures, just fun. And more fun.

But some of us do it with a theme, so that’s another challenge within the challenge !

And that’s what this post is all about.

*Drum Rolls please*

THE THEME REVEAL  !!

A, B , C , D, E, F, G

A nice little Story it's going to be !

H, I, J, K, L, M, N

A month long job for the paper and pen !

O, P, Q ;  R, S, T

Come on, lets' go and rock it, shall we ?

V,W ;  X, Y, Z....

Let's leave no A-to-Z post unread !!

Yes, my Theme is a Story :-)

 Simple, isn’t it ?

I love the simplicity of how it sounds :)

 A story, the seeds of which had been sown some time back.

The whole idea began as a seed for a short story, and that’s when A to Z popped up.

This prompted me to put the short story on hold to give it some time to bloom into something more than what it was actually conceived to be.

And that new bloom is what April is going to see on my blog.

A story, woven in 26 segments,  with the alphabets in sync.

A story we all will be able to identify with.

Something , that I wish, would stir the souls of anyone who reads it.

Something, that would make us say, “ hey, I think I’ve seen someone like that, somewhere, sometime.”

That’s the promise, to you, all my dear readers and myself ! :)

I hope to make it as interesting and as engaging as I can :-) I hope and pray you all are with me in this maiden endeavour of mine !

As an addition, I think of throwing in another random post for each letter, on the very first thing that I can think of when I see it.

That is making it as random as ‘random’ can get !

This actually means I’ll have to write two posts for each letter, one for the Story, and the other, random.

Which is by no means, an easy feat.

But achievable, nonetheless. This is just an added bonus.

I can either write both the posts on the single day, or make the latter a weekly round-up post for the Sundays :-)

That’s still a surprise ! :-)

This is the first time I’m taking part in the A to Z, and my excitement is predictable , so is my nervousness.

Will I be able to do it right ?

Will I meet the challenge and make it through ?

Will I be able to do justice to myself and my commitment and deliver my best ?

Will it work out the way I think it would ?

So many questions, which I’m sure are a part of everyone’s thoughts , at some point of time or the other.

And yes, the only weapon we have to meet the questions with a positive frame of mind, is the best weapon anyone can ever have.

Determination , baked with confidence, layered with motivation from fellow bloggers, and topped with enthusiasm !

Oh, yes, strengthened with the power of research, and deepened by thoughts !

This activity is about exercising your brain cells, activating the thought process and creating reading pleasure for the readers.

It is about sharing the passion for writing with a huge network of the like-minded .

It is about spreading some love by sharing what we love from the blog world, across the friends‘ networks ( bloggers or non-bloggers).

It is about enriching those around us with the words we share, getting enriched by them in the process.

It is about the fun of blog-hopping, visiting, reading, commenting, motivating, helping and supporting all those who are here for the fun of it.

It is about appreciating the hosts and co-hosts who are working behind the scenes to make the event a grand success !!

Let’s join together and rock the show !!

Join us, will you, please ?

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This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal Blog Fest.

Thinking of joining A to Z ? Then please check it out here.

Some Women's Day Thoughts !

Inspiring Change !

In a world where women are gaining greater heights, the International Women's Day 2014 comes with this theme.
Very apt, I would say, because we are still fighting for reservation and equality, and teaming up against dowry, rape, sexual abuse,child labour and child marriage along with the ever-present evils of poverty and casteism and what not.

Why not think of bringing in the change we want to see ? That's a proactive, responsive thought, is it not ?

That's what Subhasini Mistry thought.

For a woman who was thrown into widowhood when she was just 23, with four hungry mouths yearning for a morsel of food, just because she couldn't afford proper medical treatment for her ailing husband, life didn't come easy. She wasn't educated, yet, she had what most women would've lacked at that time. Determination immeasurable.
She took up any job that she could do, literally anything .
From being a housemaid, to a vegetable seller, to helping with brick laying that was physically demanding and challenging, she worked, toiled hard and saved every single penny she could, spending just the bare minimum to keep them alive. Her sons helped her in brick laying, and supplemented her income with theirs.

All for just one purpose.

The young widow had promised herself that she would build a hospital for the needy, so that many others would be spared the sorrow that she had had to bear.

And that she would educate one of her sons to become a doctor.

She achieved both her dreams.


The Humanity Hospital , near Hanspukur , Kolkata, stands testimony to one thing above all.
The change that a single woman's grit and will power can accomplish in the world !

Read her story here. And salute her resolve.

Wait.

We can even emulate her, can't we ?
Just by utilising what we have to the best possible extent. Just by ensuring that our talents don't get wasted away, however small it many seem. Just by being ourselves, and much much beyond that !!

From Subhasini Mistry, I shift my focus to one woman who has it all.
The will, the knowledge, the courage and the ability to achieve her dreams.

It might be that all her powers are so hidden in her that she doesn't seem to recognise them, or it might be that she's aware of it, but is afraid of the society, or her family, or anything else that she finds intimidating.
Or it might be the fear of failure that holds her back.
Or rejection, may be.
It might even be the lack of encouragement, or the feeling of 'being too old' for anything.

Well, you all know the woman I'm speaking about, haven't you guessed ?

You have seen her at least once in your life. With at least one of those traits evident.

Yes, I'm not naming her, I'm sure your guess is right.

So, this Women's Day, let's take all possible steps to release her. It's better late, than never !

She can try,
She can fly.
She can touch the sky !!

A Happy Women's Day to all gorgeous women, and to those wonderful men in our lives !!

Stay Blessed :-)

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The Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 ends today. Check out the wonderful entries for the day's challenge here. We are winding up this edition with the Women's Day !

Dimensions - 55 Fiction Triplets !

The Message…..

“Is that papa ?”, she pointed  at the brightest star in the night sky.

  I looked at her eyes clothed in innocence and face lined with expectation.

“What do you think?”, I knelt down and took her cheeks in mine.

“ Papa always winks at me”, she shrugged , looking at the star.

  And the star blinked once !

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My Warmth..... 

“Is that you?”, I whispered to the bright light that shone before my eyes.

I tried to feel the warmth of that ball of light by putting out my hands towards it.

Suddenly I felt a glow on me and a warmth from inside.

Yes, this was him.

I felt him grow inside me...

Bliss !    
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Misfit who ?

"You're so much of a misfit, I wish I hadn't married you", he said.

"You've killed the life of my dreams, you can never help me achieve them", his voice echoed across the room. 

She sat huddled in the corner, her tears flowing silently, washing away her stories of sacrificed love, dreams and unspoken desires.
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At Day 6 of The Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 , it is raining  55 Fiction on Friday !!  Check out some wonderful entries here.

AMHA !!

Aah ! Is there anything in the world around , that doesn’t inspire us in some way ? I guess not. From the tiny ant to the mighty elephant, from the shaking leaf to the large tree, inspiration comes in all possible ways. Most of the time we aren’t aware of it, but the truth is that our subconscious learns a lot from the world around, and that influences our lives in many ways. We all have something to learn from each other, the hows and how nots, the whys and why nots of life.

When the Write Tribe challenged us to tell an inspirational story, I thought of many people I knew, who could be spoken about. And I came to rest at the thought of one person.

I belong to Thrissur, the perfect centre of Kerala. In this small city built around a 65 Acre hillock, lives a strong willed woman, a teacher, who has made and continues to make a big difference in the lives of the mentally challenged.

Meet Dr Bhanumathi, Professor of Zoology, Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur  - the founder of AMHA ; Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults.

Born as the youngest child to an affluent farmer-father, Dr Bhanumathi was well aware from very early that she had to take care of her mentally challenged siblings once she grew up. Her mother took care of them when they were young, and the young Bhanumathi knew that one day she will have to take over the responsibility from her mother. She was also aware that even though her family could afford to employ a help to take care of her brothers, many families couldn’t do that because of financial, emotional and social constraints. So, she had decided early in her life that she would start a home for the mentally challenged people, once she gained financial independence.

The triggering point was, however, personally painful for her. One of her mentally challenged brothers died on her lap, after being rejected by a doctor who seemed to think that he didn’t deserve human consideration because he was mentally challenged. This hurt Bhanumathi and strengthened her resolve , which ultimately resulted in her founding AMHA in 1997.

She began the institution as a school  with just 3 students, and as word spread around, it increased to 18.

None of the initial crunches like lack of support or funds affected her strong purpose of mind, and things started getting better in some time when the newspapers and television channels started showcasing her efforts. Slowly, AMHA started gaining strong ground in the society.

From a small classroom with 3 students, AMHA has grown into a Charitable organisation, with 55 mentally challenged students getting help, love, care, recognition and on-hands work experience. Dr Bhanumathi decided against having her own children, treating every single child who came to AMHA as her own. Her brothers are also among the inmates of AMHA.

Even though AMHA functions at my hometown, I hadn’t heard of AMHA till I reached college. I knew Dr Bhanumathi as a teacher in one of the best colleges in our town ( though I was a student in another best college :D :D ) but more knowledge about AMHA came later.

Since then, she’s inspired me, to believe that nothing is impossible  and in the big wide world, every single human being deserves to be treated with equal respect, love and care.

Give love in plenty, and you’ll receive it back in abundance, so that you can give more !

Gulf News , the leading daily in UAE highlighted her and AMHA in 2010. Read the full story here.

And yes, AMHA is on Facebook, too !!

I wish her all success in the years to come :-)

   

That’s the story for the day, hope you found it as inspiring as I did.

Stay blessed !

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The Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 is on ! Join us in this wonderful journey through words !!

Linking this to Day 5 , the challenge being sharing an inspiring story.

Read some wonderful entries here.

Loving the Sir !

The year 2000. A 15 year old girl is eagerly going through her English Textbook for the new academic year as she loves to read it before being taught at school. One chapter, somewhere towards the end of the book, grips her and she thinks with a little disappointment that she’ll have to wait till almost the end of the academic year to reach that part of the book. Yet, she loves reading that chapter over and over again when she gets time, and falls in love with it every time . She tries without success to procure a copy of the book of which it is an extract.

The influence of that chapter stays with her as she leaves school behind and enters college, and one fine morning, she discovers a battered copy of the much-wanted book in a dark corner of a dusty bookshelf at her college library. She devours the book with much enthusiasm  ; that book tops her list of favourites.

It would be take some more years for her to own a copy, though.

And that 15 year old is, yours truly.

Period.

When the Write Tribe wanted us to write a review of a book, the first thought was, ‘Oh ! I can’t write of any recent releases in English, because most of them are still in my ‘to read’ list ; the copies resting at my home in India.’  I’ve been catching up with Malayalam over the past few weeks. But that wouldn’t do, for this challenge.  

That was when light dawned. Why not write about my favourite book ? Yes, that will be it, I thought to myself.

Without any more delay ( I’ve spoken much already :-/ ), presenting before you, ‘ To Sir, With Love'.

Title : To Sir With Love

Author : Edward Ricardo Braithwaite

Genre : Autobiography

Year of First Publication : 1959, The Random House Group

ISBN ( From 2007 ) : 9780099498049

Have you ever been judged by your colour ? Have you ever been rejected at interviews because of the colour of your skin ?  Despite being educated, and after having served in the armed forces out of a sense of duty and demobilized from the same at the end of the war, have you remained unemployed for almost 18 months because the sophisticated British Society couldn’t see beyond your black skin ?

You would , if you chose to live in Braithwaite’s shoes for some time.

So, after about 18 months of unemployment, he decides to try teaching, and gets posted to one of the worst schools in the East end of London. He gets a shock the first day, on his route to the place, when a woman refuses to sit next to him in the bus, despite the conductor’s repeated reminders about an empty seat. Rick gets down at his stop, and turns back to find the woman sitting on the seat he just vacated. The harsh reality of the racist attitude strikes him hard.

He’s in for a greater shock at the school, for he finds it nowhere near his imagination. The students are an unruly lot, least bothered about their studies, and consciously unmindful in their filthy appearance and foul language. Most of them are from the same locality, and the atmosphere in many homes in not conducive to their development into good human beings. Their lack of respect to themselves is matched only by their disrespect to the world in general.

It is into this pandemonium  that Rick enters as a teacher.

Needless to say, he has a tough time winning their trust . His supportive colleagues do warn him that he’s bitten a tough bunch of grass to chew, but his resolve to change the students doesn’t falter. When he sees his colleague Mrs Grace maintain a good rapport with the students, he becomes confident of a similar victory.

Does he , or doesn’t he, and if yes, how ? This is what the book takes you through.

At the risk of introducing mild spoilers, I would quote some instances which I found particularly endearing.

The first time he erupts into his infamous temper with the girls is when he finds that some girl has tried to burn a used napkin in the fire grate inside the classroom.

In another instance, one of the students challenges him for a boxing match , which he completes successfully, and arranges for that student to teach boxing to the younger kids !

When one of his students loses his mother ,the students refuse to take the wreath to his home as that boy is of a mixed race. Rick finds himself failing as a teacher here, judging the students for what they said. Yet he’s filled with remorse the next day, when he finds them all at the funeral. He has, after all, been a reason for them to see reason in their behavior !

The way he teaches them to address each other as ‘Mr’ and ‘Ms’, and to behave in a manner befitting their age, is commendable.

It is just a matter of time that he wins the class over in his own style !

Rick’s life as an individual in enriched by his interaction with his students who show him a totally different  phase of life.  They soon learn to trust him, and he finds that he’s expected to guide some with problems in their families, as well. He does that many a time, earning the respect and gratitude from the parents as well.

His role in their lives gets redefined, while his own outlook towards certain things in life undergoes a positively cataclysmic change.

He finds love, too. He hits it off with one of his colleagues, and her family is able to accept him despite his colour, though reluctant initially. 

So much happens in the eight odd months of his life as a teacher in that school, and at the end of the year, his students are confident enough to take up the challenges of the world, thanks to his moulding them.

They love him for what he has been and done for them, and gift him a big parcel on the last day of the academic year . With love.

To Sir, With Love.

E R Braithwaite went on to become a social worker and then a diplomat, after he left teaching. This book is his recollection of his days as a teacher, and his best known work.

This story was made into a movie in the year 1968, with Sidney Poitier, donning the role of Rick. The movie might have variations from the written version of the book for commercial purposes, yet it was a commercial hit. More details on the movie can be found here.

If you haven’t read the book, please do. It is sure to leave you feeling good.

If you have already read it, there's always a scope to re-read :-)

So, which is your favourite book ? Would love to know !
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The Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 is on ! Join us in this wonderful journey through words :-)

Linking this to the post for  Day 4 , the challenge being, " a book review or review of a book you love."

Check out some wonderful entries here.