‘But man is not made for defeat,’ he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’
– The Old Man and the Sea (1952) by Ernest Hemingway
A struggle to live
amidst the horror of death
without oxygen
A struggle to live
amidst loss of livelihood
and hopelessness
But also a chance
to readapt and rethink our
way of life ahead
But also a chance
for survival of the fittest
in more ways than one
Linking to dVerse Challenge: dVerse Poetics – One True Sentence
As it rained, delight
turned to despair seeing the
flood and landslide
While he was deft, he
lost control of his car which
ended up crashing
Linking to Ragtag Daily Prompt: Delight , Fandango One Word Challenge: Landslide, Your Daily Word Prompt: Deft, dVerse Challenge: Poetics 428 — Poetry as witness
Once the scale of this pandemic began to hit home, I am sure we all expected that a lot many books will be written and movies will be made in the years to come. It’s not everyday we live through a pandemic, do we? So thinking this, I picked up “Kaleidoscope of Cheer and Hope” by Manjulika Pramod.
The blurb goes like this –
This book is born in one of the most unprecedented times of history and it clearly aims to picture reality, create awareness, spread cheer, and convey that we are together in this pandemic. It thrives on authentic illustrations and vivid commentary on some of the most important events of the lockdown. The book promises visual meditation and helps in positive grieving.
The act of making personal notes and capturing the current situation into meaningful drawings gave birth to “Kaleidoscope of Cheer and Hope”. In these times of uncertainty and anxiety, the author felt a dire need to emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s mental health, social distancing, maintaining personal hygiene, expressing gratitude, and manifesting hope for humanity, and thus, she created a world for herself and others. Art turned out to be a powerful tool in this positive campaign.
For years, words and creations have been used as a response to uncertainty and catastrophe. The current scenario is no different. Hope this book helps you to introspect, emote, question, and preserve these unexpected times in more than one way.
These are unprecedented times not only for the current generation but for generations from the past and the future as well. The world hasn’t seen a pandemic of this kind in decades.
The cover of the book perfectly portrays what to expect. There are 50 different illustrations of life during the lockdown with interesting titbits thrown in about the way life went haywire.
Everyday we hear and read about violence in various forms. We hear about hate, death and despair inflicted upon humanity across the planet.
We read about how arguments over the smallest of things could turn into national or international disasters if proper attention is not given. All this makes one wonder on how we can continue to live in such a divided world.
Smelling the flowers proved to be disastrous
Source: http://amcoffee.celebratewomantoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Woman-Smelling-Flowers-in-the-field.jpg
It had been a few days since she had started getting those flowers at the doorstep. Though there wasn’t a name or a message, her initial reaction was of utmost happiness and delight as she seemed to have an inkling on the sender.
Interestingly, though these were beautiful, these flower types weren’t the usual kinds which people gifted their loved ones.
As the days went on, though the flowers kept coming weekly, her condition had started deteriorating with debilitating affects being observed on her nervous system courtesy the smell of these flowers.
What started as delight was slowly but surely turning into a cold blooded murder.
‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’
I am taking part in the #MyFriendAlexa campaign to take my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter.
The father and son duo walked hand in hand on the beach..
Source: http://2www.ecestaticos.com/imagestatic/
clipping/225/cab/cae/225cabcaeadd64893ac482cc4053aed6/el
-parecido-fisico-con-los-padres-influye-al-elegir-pareja.jpg?mtime=1417627390
Hey Buddy,
I have finally learnt a few words like ‘buddy’ and am on the way to be the so called ‘modern’ dad you wanted me to be. I hear you ask why do I call you buddy rather than my son. As you would have observed, in my style of parenting, the children should always feel that while interacting with their parents they are as comfortable as interacting with their friends. They should be able to tell anything and everything without having the fear to be judged.
There was a phase during my growing up years when I felt that my parents didn’t know anything. I felt that they didn’t understand me at all. As far as I was concerned, they were pretty much outcasts when it came to my thinking, my friends and my general way of life. I always feared for the fact that if I share my life’s stories with them, they would judge me rather than share meaningful advice.
Love turned sour..
Source: http://www.lyricsasquotes.com/34687.jpg
While they were far apart in terms of distance with both of them engrossed in studies on different continents separated by thousands of kilometers, their love was the one common thing which made their world go round. From WhatsApp chats to Skype calls, they always kept each other updated on their lives and everything which came with it be it happiness or despair.
This went on for a few years until he popped the question silently smiling to himself expecting her to say yes almost immediately. Both of them were now working and making their way up the career ladder slowly but surely. She was shocked and blatantly refused exclaiming that this was the time when she wanted to concentrate on her career and couldn’t think of anything else. While he was devastated, he was half expecting it considering their conversations had dramatically reduced since quite a while.
Destruction
Source: http://i2.wp.com/www.sopitas.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/terremoto-1.jpeg
Their life had
turned upside down.
I am participating in the A to Z challenge in April and the theme I have chosen is Micro-fiction.
Have you ever lost someone?
Source: http://www.theafterloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Benjamin-July-18-greatest-pain.jpg
All of us have an expiry date (the date we would die). There’s no one who can expect to live forever. If there was a possibility, how many of you would want to live forever?
But this expiry date is not something any of us actually know. At least among us Indians, as soon as we reach the wrong side of 50 many start thinking as if our time on Earth is nearing its end. Interestingly, on the other side of the spectrum, I have seen men and women at the age of 70+ in countries like Germany, UK etc. fit and fine to even go on tourist visits all alone without their kids.
As it waits for its prey..
© 2015, Barbara W. Beacham
I watched the vulture looking at me hungrily as I lay on the ground bleeding and injured. What had I done wrong? I was just a tiny little bird who was trying to learn the way things work in the big bad world.
My mother had advised me to be careful of those big creatures who had always troubled us. And therefore, she never allowed me to go out anywhere without my siblings. But I always sneaked out when she wasn’t around. While I did get caught many a time, today was different.
It had become a day of despair.
Linking to Finish the Story
Linking to NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month – November – My post no 1 for this month.
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