northern lights

northern lights
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Friday, 5 September 2014

Haiku Grief

                                                                   
                                                                            While in grief, we know,
                                                                   what is happiness, brightness content ,joy
                                                                             Good times will follow soon.


                                                                              suffering of a beloved
                                                                     fills the heart  with grief, and sorrow,
                                                                              cant be expressed in words.

                                                                             

                                                                       Naked foliage is nature's grief
                                                               dried leaves spread like worn out carpet.
                                                                       Spring will bring new cheer.



 Prompted by Carpe Diem daily Haiku  #  553  Grief








                                                               
                                                                              

Teachers' Day


Today is Teachers' Day.  It is celebrated through out the country to pay tributes to Teachers, who shape our destiny, make us capable to face the adversities of life and to stand on our feet with pride,dignity, self respect and self esteem. The date 5th September is also significant. It is the birthday of our ex president of India,Dr. Sarvepalli  Radhakrishna, a great thinker, philosopher and a great teacher. It is being celebrated since 1962.
 The general pattern of celebration is presenting flowers, and greeting cards to  the teachers, as a mark of gratitude and respect to them. In many schools, the senior students take the responsibility of teaching junior classes. The teachers attend seminars, workshops and functions arranged by the Govt. and other agencies  as a mark of respect to the teacher community. National Awards are presented to the deserving teachers by the Govt. of India. Each State also confers awards to  teachers for their selfless contribution to the society. Each one of us has been a student and we owe to our teachers, what we have achieved today.

                                  This year Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the teachers and students  nation wide on National TV. It is expected that he will bless the teachers  and inspire them  to be proud,  to be a part of  this noble profession. The country should be proud of its teachers in framing the character of its citizens  and enabling them to become good human beings and play a significant role in the task of nation building.
  Some notable  quotations are given below to  acknowledge the role of teachers in motivating  the students to become ideal citizens of the country.
  1."A teacher's purpose is not to create students in her own image but to develop students to build their own personality'
Unknown

. 2. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
―William Arthour Ward


  3. “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.
    Aristotle 

  4. “They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even when you don't know it”
― Nicholas Spark.

  5“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
Alexander, the great

6.A teacher affects eternity:he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams

7. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life,
those the art of living well.
Aristotle


8 By learning you will teach;by teaching you will understand.
Latin Proverb


9 We learn by teaching.
James Howell


10 He that teaches us anything which we knew not
before is undoubtedly to be reverenced as a master.
Samuel Johnson



Written for Write Tribe  Pro Blogger week 5 Day 34



 













Thursday, 4 September 2014

It is in giving that we receive !

              Today Carpe Diem has given a very thoughtful saying for a Haiku."It is in giving that we receive", written by St. Francis of Assissi.

                                                              Mother Earth's bounties we get
                                                          innumerable ,without asking, plenty she gives.
                                                                   Be always thankful to her.





                                                        A mothers' love  for her child
                                             pure, simple , never demanding nor claiming
                                                        knows only how to give.



                                                      The sun, moon,stars,breeze
                                           God's bounties plenty  for all living beings
                                                        Always to keep them happy.



Written for Carpe Diem Haiku #105, St. Francis of Assisi's first quote 'it is in giving that we recieve'.



,

Drinking tea in plastic cups?


An Office professional , was finding himself with an upset stomach every night. While normal medical check ups  revealed nothing wrong in him, deeper probes revealed the reason – his stomach was collecting significant amounts of wax. And doctors identified the cause – the ordinary disposable paper cups he used for drinking his tea at his office canteen..
Disposable paper cups have become quite popular  due to the convenience they offers. What many overlook is the fact that these paper cups are coated with a tiny layer of wax, which is essential to prevent water from seeping into the paper. When very hot liquids are poured into this cups, the wax coating is likely to  disintegrate and a little may come off, which will promptly be sent along with the drink into our stomachs! While our body can discard minor amounts, over the long-term, it does become a problem.
So what can be done about it? You can try to bring your own glass cups. Glass is one of the least reactive materials in the world. Acids are stored in glass containers, blood samples are collected in glass test tubes. But glass does have the problem of breaking easily, so it requires good care. Ceramic cups are probably the best bet. Of course, you can also use your ordinary stainless steel glass, but try not to use disposable plastic ones daily over long periods.
Written for Write Tribe Pro Blogger 
week 5  Day 34













Wednesday, 3 September 2014

A cute little story.

One day I went to the house of  Seth Murari Lal. After his wife died in child birth,he became a patient of high blood pressure. He was now fifty five. I was surprised when I saw him holding an empty box in his hand. His glance was fixed on the box and tears were dripping  on it. As soon as he saw me, he hid the box under the blanket, with which he had covered himself.  I became very curious. I slowly went and sat by his side and asked him what was he trying to hide under the blanket. All of a sudden the dripping tears turned into a stream. I let him cry, so that the burden, he was carrying would become light. Slowly, with his old, trembling hands he took the box from under the blanket and softly kept it in my hands.
                                               He said,"You must be wondering why this old box is so dear to me. When my little daughter Sujata was small, I saw a golden gift wrapping paper in her hand. As soon as she saw me, she tried to hide the paper. This golden paper was very precious for me. It had real gold strips  woven in it.  In a fit of anger, I beat her  hard on her face and burst out, how and why she  had removed the paper from my drawer. She meekly replied she wanted to wrap a gift for her friend. I let her go with a warning that thereafter she would not even touch it.." He was breathless and could hardly speak. I gave him a glass of water. He continued,"Next day was my birthday. I saw her coming smilingly  towards me with a box wrapped in the same golden paper. She was excited and gave the box in my hand  after hugging me and reciting  happy birthday to dear papa. I opened the box and was shocked to see that it was empty. In a fit of anger I again shouted at her and said did she not have good manners to put some thing  in an empty box, when she was giving a gift to some one?' The little girl, just five old started crying and said," Papa the box is not empty. Before closing it I filled it with kisses for you." Seth Murari Lal wept bitterly like a small child and told me, " My dear Sujata is no more. Last night she died in child birth. I am taking  her kisses from the box."



Written for Write Tribe Pro Blogger week 5  day 3.
This is a fictional story.
















Tuesday, 2 September 2014

My favourite authors

I have always been a voracious reader. I always loved to read. Whether it was a Hindi book or English, whether a magazine, short stories or novels , I read  every thing. Now when I sit and recollect my favorite authors, so many names are flashing in my mind , I cannot decide which ones to include and which  ones to drop out. I am jotting down twelve authors,who have left a stamp on the mind and cannot be erased.
1. The first on my list is Thomas Hardy. I have read Tess, Mayor of Caster Bridge, Tale of two cities.and Far from the Madding crowd, Fate and chance play a major role in his novels
                                            
Thomashardy restored.jpg
Thomas Hardy

2. Jane Austen: I loved to read her novels Pride and Prejudice,Emma and Sense and Sensibility.She generally wrote about women issues, like  Love and marriage.She was one of the most widely read authors.
                                                 
Jane Austen
Jane Austen
                                         

3. Shakespeare  is considered to be the world's largest dramatist, actor and poet. He wrote about forty plays. I have read Merchant of Venice, Tempest, As you like it, Comedy of Errors, and Hamlet. He also wrote sonnets, poems with fourteen lines.


Shakespeare.jpg
Shakespeare


4.Mrs Sudha Murty is a talented writer. Her Novel Dollar Bahu, Mahasheta and  Punyabhumi Bharat are some of the books I have read. Her simple style of writing is very appealing  You feel you are having a real conversation with the author.



SudhaMurthy.jpg
Sudha Murthi

5.R. K. Narayan is a very versatile writer.His Malgudi Days  and Guide have made him immortal.He won the Sahitya Akademy award for Guide. Malgudi, an imaginary village,which is the destination of his writings is also known far and wide.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/R._K._Narayan.jpg
R.K.Narayan



6.Munshi Prem Chand is my favourite Hindi novelist. I have read  many of his novels.  Gaban, Godaan  Bade ghar ki Beti and Nirmala. He was rightly known as 'Emporer of Stories''.
                                                     
Premchand 4 a.jpg
Munshi Prem Chand
                                                     


7. Amrita Pritam.was a very popular writer of Hindi and Punjabi. She wrote novels and poetry with equal ease.  Many of her works have been translated in to  different languages. I had very little knowledge of Punjabi(gurmukhi). For sometime she was our neighbour. It was at that time I  became interested in Punjabi. She presented me a copy of her book Pinjar,which  is my great treasure. She got a Sahitya Academy Award for the book. She was the recipient of prestigious Awards like Bharat Vibhushan and Padma Shri, from Government of India. She  died in the year 2005.
Amrita Pritam (1919 – 2005) , in 1948.jpg
Amrita Pritam


8.Rabindranath Tagore  was also a favourite author. I think I was in class 7th or 8th when I read a short story, 'Home Coming", a part of our  English  language subject. I loved many of his works but it was Gitanjali, which was,(and still is) my favourite book.
                                                          
Rabindranath-Tagore-Paper-Print-per002
Rabindra Nath  Tagore
                                                             

   9.Bernard Shaw was  a famous writer of modern times. His writings depicted his pain for the exploitation  lower classes. He was known more for his plays. his plays Pygmalion and Arms and the Man. I had written a review of Arms and the Man in M.A.
                                                         
                                                                   George Bernard Shaw 1936.jpg

10. Charles Dickens. His works Pickwick Papers, A tale of two cities made him a writer  for all   times.
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Charles Dickens
                                                     
11   I love to read and write poetry John Keats  is my favorite  poet. He was famous for his romantic poems.His Poem Nightingale will forever remain fresh. Unfortunately he died young.
John Keats by William Hilton.jpg
John Keats

12. Somerset Maugham was a famous writer for novels, short  stories ,plays . He also wrote a few poems I liked the novel, The Razor's Edge.

Maugham retouched.jpg



Written  for Write Tribe Pro Bloggers Week 5  Day  2.






                                                   
                                                 







Monday, 1 September 2014

Carpe Diem # 551 Abandoned

    Carpe Diem has introduced 'a Haiku every day' list for the month of September . The word for 1st Sept. is 'Abandoned'. This Haiku is  5-7-5 formation of words.                                                        


                                                      Sick, poor, infirm  old,helpless
                                                abandoned on a  road, by selfish  children,
                                                     grieve not, God knows all.


                                                          Abandoned near the Bank gate
                                                    a blue bag, raised a rage by passersby,
                                                        Live bomb, diffused by security.


                                                         

                                                         Come Autumn, trees discard  leaves
                                               The wheel of life moves on  methodically
                                                        as ordained by God's  Will.

 Written for Carpe Diem Prompt # 551  Abandoned