Challenges | But I Smile Anyway...

Freestyle Writing Challenge – Take 3 – Sunset

27 May 2015 19 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, My Writing Tags: Blog Post, Blog. Blogger, Blogging, Challenge, Freestyle Writing, Sunset

This time I was challenged by Author SBMazing to this awesome freestyle writing challenge.

Here are the rules to the challenge:

1. Open a blank Document
2. Set a stop watch or your mobile phone timer to 5 or 10 minutes, whichever challenge you prefer.
3. Your topic is at the foot of this post BUT DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO SEE IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY WITH YOUR TIMER!!!
4. Once you start writing do not stop until the alarm sounds!
5. Do not cheat by going back and correcting spelling and grammar using spell check (it is only meant for you to reflect on your own control of sensible thought flow and for you to reflect on your ability to write with correct spelling and grammar.)
6. You may or may not pay attention to punctuation or capitals.
7. At the end of your post write down ‘No. of words = ____” to give an idea of how much you can write within the time frame.
8. Do not forget to copy paste the entire passage on your blog post with a new topic for your nominees and copy paste these rules with your nomination (at least five (5) bloggers)

Ready?

The topic I was given … Sunset

I love a good sunset…

My ideal sunset is sat on a sandy beach, watching the waves lap onto the shore, my loved one beside me, head on his shoulder, and seeing the magnificent sun dip down, lower, and lower as if it is a giant biscuit that is being dunked into the huge cup of tea that is the ocean!

Wow! That sounded a bit poetic, didn’t it!?

I do love a good sunset, the colours, and the peace you feel, if you are in the right place, is unreal.

Something else that also comes to mind when I think of the word sunset is those elderly people who are at the ‘sunset’ of their lives, you know, the tail end. They have seen many days, good and bad. Sunny and rainy. Their dawn was long, long ago, and they have now settled into the blissful retreat that is that sun, slowly going down, after blazing hard all their life long.

And they should be having a peaceful sunset. After all, they’ve worked hard all their lives. But it’s sad to see how many ‘sunsetters’ don’t have the peaceful end to their days nowadays. One big issue is money. So many of them, and I fear, many of us, once we reach the ‘sunset’ of our lives, will find it a struggle to live comfortably, unless there is support for them. A lot of old folk have to sell up their family homes, and go move into nursing homes, or old people’s homes to be cared for, as they can’t afford to keep their own house, and get care there, and the cost of a home is exorbitant too.

And that leads me on to support. How many elderly people actually have support? I mean the support of family? In our community, it is the norm to support your elders, to respect them, and once retirement hits, or they are no longer able to do things for themselves, we step in. The younger generation. There are not many Indian old people in homes, unless it is a health issue and special care is required.

So what do I think? Please support your elders in the sunset of their lives, so they may also see an idyllic end to their days, instead of pain, and suffering.

Word count: 386

And on to those I would like to challenge…

The Blog Of Tony Burgess
Life Of An El Paso Woman
Lady Lee Manila
BDHESSE
Cornfed Contessa

And your topic is…

No Peeking!

Fantasy!

Happy writing chappies!!!!

#BeWoW ~ Positivity

27 May 2015 16 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges Tags: #BeWoW, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Positivity, Ronivan Writes

Another Wednesday, another chance to Be Wonderful On Wednesday, like the lovely Ronovan, of Ronovan Writes, requested that we do.

This week the prompt is How do you keep positive?

Well, that’s an interesting one.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ve probably guessed that I am, in general, a pretty positive person. I’m not sure that many times have cropped up, where I haven’t been positive. It’s just the way I was brought up to be.

Now there’s a thought… Are you born positive? Or is positivity taught?

I think that we all have the capability to be positive, but your upbringing, the attitudes around you, can most definitely influence how positive, or negative, you end up, as an adult.

As a child, I saw my parents go through various situations where they were dragged through the mud, put in the firing line for no reason whatsoever, times they had to take huge responsibilities onto their shoulders, at quite a young age, and always with a smile on their faces.

It would get my mum down, but until I was quite a lot older, I only saw the smiles on her face, and the positive outlook she had, on whatever situation the family was in at the time. Once I reached maturity, and was able to understand more, what was going on, she would tell me the truth, but also explain why it was important to stay positive.

My Pops, well, he was, and still is, Mr Positive. He is someone who always sees the silver lining, in so many situations. Like when we were setting our wedding date, after a couple of years of engagement. It was all set, the venue all chosen… Then due to my Mother In Law consulting an astrologer, we had to postpone the date by two weeks. Oh My Goodness! I was upset, furious, not willing to change the date, but my Pops said “It’s not a problem Beta (dear) if they believe in something, let us do it, change dates and the best bit… I get you to stay here as my little girl for two more weeks.!” Well, that was what swung it for me! Even during the hard times when I suffered 2 miscarriages, it was his words that pulled me through…

So, with these icons of positivity around me all my life, how could I not be positive?

I wonder, if I saw them arguing, or crumbling during all the ups and downs, would I feel like I do now? Or would I tend to just give up whenever I was faced with any issues?

If, and yes, it does happen, my Hubby and I argue, or disagree, over anything, I find it important to sort it out straight away, I can’t allow the negativity to fester for days, like many people I know. I find it hard to stay angry for too long!

If things get me down, I allow myself a moment of woe, after all I was born on a Wednesday, I’m meant to be a child full of woe…(sorry to disappoint!) then I think of what my parents always taught us, I find the positive in a situation, and smile through!

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge #46 – Think & Fresh

25 May 2015 28 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Ronovan's Weekly Haiku Challenge, Think and Fresh

It’s that time of the week again! Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge!

The words this week, Think & Fresh

Imressing you

I try to think of

Fresh ways to impress you… but

Does it even work?

Hay Fever

As I smell the grass

All freshly cut, I think that

I might sneeze, Aaaaah Chooo!

Cold Tea

My tea is stone cold

I think I need to brew a

Fresh cup, right away!

#BeWoW Post – Connection

20 May 2015 23 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges Tags: #BeWoW, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Connections, Ronovan's Writes

This week, Ronovan’s suggested we talk about Connections.

My take…

The first thing that came to mind when I read the word Connections, was technological, the Internet, mobile phones, social media… You need to connect to the Internet in order for it to work, your call needs to connect with the other persons phone, to have a conversation, you need to accept a friend request to make a connection on social media platforms…

Then I thought about it, and related it to life, and our relationships. In order to keep your friendships, family connections and relationship alive, you need to ‘connect’. You need to be in touch with them somehow or another in order to allow these relationships to flourish. You need to be on the same wavelength as some people in order to ‘connect’ with them. If your thoughts, sense of humour, lifestyles are too different, you might keep,losing that ‘connection’. And with friendships, and relationships, you need to take that first step, send that friend request, verbally, to make that ‘connection’.

I ‘connect’ with many people from all walks of life, from my family, both the elders and the younger, the friends from school, university, as well as those mum friends from the schoo, run, and my colleagues from work, and the children I work with too. I think I’ve been blessed with the type of personality, where I can be both traditional, yet modern, sophisticated, yet silly, mature, yet childish, serious yet fun. I have moulded to fit all sorts of different people, in order to connect with them. Amd I am happy to do so. If this is the way for me to keep connections alive, I’ll keep on doing it.

It’s not just connections with people, though, there are those connections with my culture and my religion. Yes, I am not a Punjabi suit wearing Indian gal on a day to day basis. But I speaks da lingo, I can wear the clothes with style, and I can proudly say that I can pass many cultural and religious lessons on to my kids, in order to keep this connection alive too.

Though sometimes I think I might ‘over-connect’ too, and then I struggle to keep up with these connections. After all people start to have expectations, and I hate to disappoint… This is a lesson I am learning now, and I am trying to make sure I keep the connections that really matter, strong, and crystal clear…. Those weak, losing signal connections though, I have realised that sometimes, it’s just better to ‘cut the call’ rather that redialling on repeat. If they want to connect, maybe they can call me…or send me a friend request… And we can reconnect.

Freestyle Writing Challenge – take 2!!!!

20 May 2015 19 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, My Writing Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Freestyle Writing Challenge, Grandparents

Akanksha has challenged me to the free style writing challenge… Twice in one week! Sheesh! Where am I going to find the time??!! Lol! First, the rules…

So here goes the RULES of this challenge:

Open an MS Word document
Set a stop watch or your mobile to 5 minutes or 10 minutes whichever challenge you think you can beat.
You topic is at the foot of this post BUT DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO SEE IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY WITH A TIMER.
Fill the word doc with as much words as you want.
Once you began writing do not stop even to turn.
Do not cheat by going back and correcting spellings and grammar with spell check in MS WORD (it is only meant for you to reflect on your own control of sensible thought flow and for you to reflect on your ability to write the right spelling and stick to grammar rules)
You may or may not pay attention to punctuation and capitals.
However if you do, it would be best.
At the end of your post write down ‘No. Of words =_____’ so that we would have an idea of how much you can write within the time frame.
Do not forget to copy paste the entire passage on your blog post with a new Topic for your nominees and copy paste these rules with your nominations (at least 5 bloggers).

Grandparents

Grandparents…

I feel jealous whenever I think of those that had or have time with their grandparents.

I didn’t really get that chance. I never met my Pops’ parents. They passed away when he was young, so I didn’t get a chance to meet my Dadaji or Dadiji. All I have is a couple of pictures of portraits that were done of them both… nothing more.

My Mum’s parents were alive when I was born. But again, I was only 6 when we lost my Nanaji, my grandfather, under horrific circumstances. I hear amazing stories about him, he was a great man, charitable, loving, an educated man, who pushed my mother forward to study, something that wasn’t really done for girls in those days. My Nanima, or Mama as we called her, my grandmother, I was lucky enough to have for longer, but again this was bittersweet, as though she was there, she was far away, in another country, and it was only visits to Kenya, or her visits here that allowed us to have much of a relationship.

Grandparents…

They are fundamental to a child’s growing up, I think. The experience they have, the capacity to love unconditionally, those big warm Grandparent hugs they give…

When I married, I got to experience it a bit, as Hubby Dearest’s Grandma was still alive, and lived near us. She was a sweet woman, and could never get my name right… I was Meetu, to her, til the end. She was so loving towards me, and it made me realise how lovely it would have been to have a grandparent nearby. His other Grandmother lived in India when we got married, and though I only met her a couple of times, she was a sweet soul, a spiritual person who again, gave me a lot of love.

It was hard seeing them leave this earth too, as I felt almost cheated… I had managed to find these 2 lovely grandparents at the age of 25, then they were cruelly taken from me too!

But it has coloured my thinking of how I want to bring my children up, and the access I want them to have with their grandparents. My in-laws live close by so they see them every day… My parents further away but we speak daily and spend quality time with them…

I want them to have the Granny/Granddad moments that I never had….

No. Of words = 404

My nominees are
Jazzmelia Kay
Just Call Me Elm Or Something
Ronovan Writes
My Spanglish Family
Persia Karema

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“No mountain is too high…