Month: September 2023

MWWP: Haiku#1

Hello and a very good day to you. I am attempting to participate in Eugi’s Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt – Velvety. It can be any variation of the prompt or the image (below).

Today I am attempting a haiku inspired by this image.

About haiku

Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry, in English, is of three lines with a total of 17 syllables (preferably less). Composed of a phrase and a fragment, it captures one or two moments  by using clear and vivid images. A haiku is an unfinished poem – the readers interpret what it means by putting the images together.

A reader should be able to read the haiku and “see” the images from the words. Haiku usually have an “Aha” moment, which portray a spontaneous moment through the juxtaposition of two sharp images, with a reveal or insight or contrast or leap or pun.

Here’s my attempt:

yellow moon

knocks on the balcony window

I bring in the laundry

Well, did it work? Did it create images and a sudden switch? Comments and suggestions welcome.

Thanks for visiting. Have a super weekend.

FF: Off His Chest

Hello everyone! It’s Friday Fictioneer’s time and we have yet another party which you are welcome to join. Thank you Rochelle for hosting it and Jennifer Pendergast for the photo prompt. Click here to join and the Rules are here.

PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast
FF: Off His Chest

Words 100

 “Hello David.”

“Mary? How…When…”

“Why so startled? My first time coming home after my wedding, I had to meet you. Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

“Er….”

“Everything’s the same. That pen stand’s the one I gifted you? Aww, David. Still pining for me? Sorry, darling but it’s time you moved on.”

“Um…”

“I love this quaint chest. Remember how I used to hide here whenever the doorbell rang? Ha. Ha!” She opened the chest. “Eeeks!”

“Hi Mary.” Raina popped out.

“Why’re you hiding here?”

“I thought it was his mom. How’s Shailesh?”

“You know my husband?”

“Sort of. My ex-boyfriend.”

***

I tried my personal favorite format – only dialogue. Wondering if it worked or was confusing – do let me know. Thanks for reading. Have a super day 🙂

PS: In view of the confusion, I edited it. Hope it reads better now. Thanks for your support.

TankaTuesday #1

Good day to everyone. Another attempt to write tanka while participating in Colleen’s #TankaTuesday challenge where the rules are to to write in any of the 24 syllabic forms of Japanese poetry using a kigo or season word as an inspiration. While there are 24 seasons in Japan, we are allowed to use season words as per our region.

I hope I have understood the rules 🙂

I belong to India and the monsoon season is still lingering around, although I believe it has begun its, albeit belated, withdrawal.

a monsoon shower –

hanging on the long clothesline

sparkling diamonds

thieves break-in to find my cache

of dripping garments

So monsoon is my kigo. While the tanka is not exactly 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, I believe a total of 31 syllables or less is also acceptable. Am I right? Did this work? I also wasnt sure if I was supposed to include the image. Would love to know your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Thanks for visiting and reading. Have a super day.

WLC#39: The Viewpoint

Hello, hope you are having a grand day. Today I am attempting to participate in a new challenge hosted by XingfuMama which is about Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge – It could be anything: a picture or you can go into detail and tell it as a reflection, story or poem.

I would like to present a true story. It happened on my recent travels to Gavi near Thekkady, Kerala, India, where I found myself guilty of being biased and judgemental.

Here we were at a viewpoint deep in the midst of the rolling gorgeous greenery of the Gavi inside the Ranni reserve forest. The sky was overcast and breeze was cool and I was in seventh heaven of delight. I gobbled up the sights – the short tree, the light green, the stocky one, the balding one, while the driver-cum-guide attempted to spot wildlife for our perusal.

To be honest, there were none. Just a couple of dogs, mom and child, gambolling about. What do they eat in this wilderness I wondered. I was distracted by another jeep load of chattering tourists that drove up to ‘our’ point and disembarked. There goes our peace and silence.

One of the tourists went straight to the parked truck. Can you imagine? At this scenic sight, all he could think of was food? Or perhaps a try at the balloons? Sheesh. I rolled my eyes.

I flushed and cringed at my petty thinking. He had rushed to buy biscuits for the dogs. Hats off to the kind gentleman with his heart in the right place.

“Individuality should be celebrated, not judged.” From the internet

Thanks for visiting. Have a super day.

MWWP: Tanka #1

Hello and a very good day to you. I am attempting to participate in Eugi’s Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt – Gingered Sky. It can be any variation of the prompt or the image (below). Click here to read the other entries on the prompt.

I am attempting to present a Tanka inspired by the image. For the uninitiated (and also for myself as I struggle to grasp the finer nuances) Tanka is a popular Japanese form of poetry that is a total of 31 syllables or less separated into 5 lines. Tanka are not (necessarily rhyming) poems about seasons, nature, desires, mood or emotions, using literary devices, such as personification, metaphors etc. Tanka is characterized by a turn, known as the pivot (third line), which marks a sudden shift from one image to that of another such as a personal reference.

The haiku on the other hand is a Japanese poem with three lines of not more than 17 syllables usually referencing a season with a twist or an ‘aha’ moment in the final like.

It also may be noted that the Japanese form of poetry avoids the use of titles and capitalization of any word. If I may add, that since this is a very short poem, each word is important and may hold different connotations and perhaps best read slowly, absorbing while picturizing what each word is trying to paint/convey. Otherwise, one tends to miss the ‘aha’ moment. At least, that has been my learning.

More than a decade ago, when I first developed an interest in writing, I had dabbled in haiku and tanka forms before switching to fiction writing. Once again, I am going where the muse leads me. Thank you for your company on this journey.

twilight –

the sun sets on another day

reflections

of all that which could

have been

***

I struggled with these five lines for over five hours. Seriously. I gave up and posted this. What do you think? Does it work as a tanka? Any suggestions? I am open to constructive criticism. Do let me know. Thanks. Have a great day 🙂

CWWC: Bridges and Travel Trails

Hello! Hope you are having a super day. I am attempted to participate in Cee’s challenge of Any type of Bridge, where all you need have is a bridge or part of bridge in view. Cee’s photos are super cool (do visit the above link) and I was afraid I wouldnt have any photos to fit the bill. But guess what – I found quite a few and had loads of fun.

Hope you like 🙂

View from the bridge over the mighty and holy Ganga at Haridwar, northern India, with a sculpture of Mahadev in the distance.

From the north we go straight down south of India, Munnar, Kerala. Can you spot the bridge in the distance? That is if you can take your eyes off from the breathtaking greenery? 😀

Stopped the car on the way to Thekkady, Kerala, also in southern India and walked back half a mile to capture this scenic view from a bridge of another bridge and a quintessential village 🙂

This is another view of a bridge from a bridge but taken this time from the car. This is the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, central India. Isn’t she a gorgeous color?

Next we go to western India. This is the Doodhsagar falls near Goa. We were lucky to catch a goods train on the bridge.

This is on the way to see the above waterfall. And that’s a natural bridge. Perhaps for the monkeys 😀

This is an edited photo of the beach at Goa taken from a bridge. I had fun playing around with this one 🙂

This is the orginal photo, just in case you were wondering.

And the final photo is from the Andaman Islands in eastern India to complete the circle with a proper photo of a bridge 😀

What do you think? Which one is your favorite? Have you visited any of these places? Any place that is on your bucket list? Do let me know if you could spare the time.

Thanks for dropping by – have a super day 🙂

FF: Of Choices

Written for the Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle – a story in 100 words or less. Click here to play or read other stories on this prompt.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

FF: Of Choices

Words 100

“Stay here for a bit.” She instructed and vanished.

Devika didn’t even notice that she was alone.

Red!

Blue!

Green!

The rectangular ones?

But the square yellow ones were the most sought after.

What about those on the topmost shelf?

Dare she climb that high?

What if she fell off and hurt herself?

Perhaps the nearest ones would be safest.

Yet, the pink ones tugged at her heart.

She looked around wishing, wanting, dithering until she was dizzy.

“Dear Mother,” she folded her hands, “give me what You think is best for me and let me be content in that.”

***

Thanks for dropping by. Have a super day 🙂

FOTD: An Alien Flower

Hello! Here’s my contribution to Cee’s FOTD challenge. Today, I am here with a flower that looks like an alien. Seriously. Have a look

Doesnt it look like an alien? Once with lots of antennas! 😀

It’s actually a creeper growing on a frangipani tree, a red one at that. I have usually seen yellow or white ones before

Going back to the alien, anyone know the name?

Thanks for dropping by. Have a great day.

FF: Salted

Written for the Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle – a story in 100 words or less. Click here for other stories on this prompt.

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

FF: Salted

Words 100

“Where were you, Mom?”

“Didn’t Rashi tell you?”

“Only that you met for coffee.”

“Is it a crime to meet my son’s fiancée?”

“No. But…”

“What did Rashi say?”

“That…once we got married, I should move out.”

“I thought Rashi would thrilled! Every girl’s dream – a house of her own and no mother-in-law to nag her.”

“She’s worried about you staying alone.”

“No worries. I’ll manage. You could drop in sometimes.”

“It’s a waste to maintain two establishments.”

“Rashi said?”

“I also agree.”

 “Did you also not want to miss out on a 24/7 housekeeper?”

***

Phew just managed to join the party this week!

One-to-Three PPC Challenge #1

Hello! Hope you are having a great day. I am trying my hand at a photo processing challenge hosted by XingfuMama. The challenge is simple: take one photo and get creative with it by processing it three different ways.

However, I don’t know anything about photography, except that I love to photograph, especially trees. So here’s my attempt. Comments and suggestions welcome.

The Original Photo
Color Pencil
Pen and Wash
Comic

I didnt do anything except choose ‘styles’ and the above two options randomly. Fascinating stuff. Didnt even know I could do such a thing. 🙂

Did I understand the challenge correctly? Which one did you like best?

Thanks for visiting. Have a super weekend