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 Birthday Bash Relay. Excited on Second Place! Now for various WDC contests and activities |
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Team Ahimsa ▼ My Turn ▼ For
Thanks! "   ![Merit Badge in Blogging
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Congratulations to 'Team Ahimsa' for your excellent entries earning you the 1st-Runner-Up prize in [Link To Item #1803384] !](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) "Note: They came, they ran the race, they conquered! ..." "Congratulations November 2021 Winners!"
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| FOR "Earn the Badge - Open" This is a very interesting topic for me, close to my heart. I lost my mother on 2 Dec, 2006. It was my first experience with up-close grief. Well-meaning people tried to advice me on handling grief, and I wrote a poem in response. Now, these are well-meaning people who love me. I wrote the poem in response to them, but couldn't share it with them. I needed to share it somewhere. I looked up 'free poetry contest' online and after a few false starts with contests pretending to be free when they weren't, really, I found WRITING DOT COM. I uploaded my poem. Within the hour, I got reviews. Kind reviews, helpful reviews. I was part of the community. It was April 23, 2007. I started responding to the reviewers. Hesitantly, I started reviewing myself. I began to enter contests. I began to participate in review raids and other activities. I found myself writing in genres I never did before. The StoryMaster started an interactive-stories campaign in 2007-8, which I participated in enthusiastically, and later I ran a couple of rounds of it on his behalf. I loved doing that! I was honoured (and nervous) to be promoted to Mod and slowly started doing Newsletters. I don't volunteer to judge the official contest due to my weak eyesight, which means I sometimes mis-read words and miss nuances, which would be unfair on contestants, but I love the other aspects of being a Mod!!  I have friends here. I actually have what I call my online family. I love WDC! Here's that first poem I spoke of:
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| "Note:
48-HOUR CHALLENGE : Media Prompt
Deadl..." What a lovely song!! Wistful, joyful, melodious ... I can totally relate. What are my memories? Beach picnics with Mom, Dad and sometimes the extended family ... swimming, building sand-castles ... Acting in the school play as a naughty younger brother of the bride (We were an all girls' school and played the male roles) Wearing a saree at my cousin's wedding and spilling ice cream on her aunt-in-law because I couldn't handle the saree! Going camping to the Himalayas, spending fifteen days in a tent and crying when I had to leave, I loved it so ... So many, many gems in that little box of memories, all sparkling there ... Truly, a song I can relate to! I'm going to listen to this one over and over, and maybe it'll be  |
| FOR "Earn the Badge - Open" Lately this tune has been humming a lot in my head. I find the song has a deep meaning expressed in simple language. I listen to it on You Tube and I hum it to myself at odd times, at home or in the auto-riksha getting from place to place. I enjoy Sufi music a lot. Dad and I used to attend live concerts together when a singer we particularly liked visited Bangalore. After his passing, I've attended some concerts and missed him a lot at those times. A song that Mom and I listened to a lot together is We used to listen to it on the old-fashioned record, on a turntable. She never saw this visualisation of it and I missed her when I found it. Another English song I like a lot is |
  Today's new emoticon set off a chain of thoughts in my head. The worm immediately reminded me of Richard Scarry's Lowly Worm, with a little green hat and one shoe. It wasn't officially stated anywhere, but in some of Scarry's books, Lowly Worm appeared somewhere on every page, whether he had anything to do with the text or not. It was delightful to search for Lowly Worm. Often, a half hour extra was spent with the book just doing this, page after page. This got me thinking about 'searching'. When we needed to search something in the library, we went there physically, looked through the catalogue cards and located the shelf the book was on. Once we found the book, we took it to a desk and searched through it to locate the topic we needed - and if it wasn't covered as we needed, we walked back to the shelf, replaced the book and looked for another. When I studied Library Science, I had to make physical catalogue cards - sometimes nine or ten per book - and place them alphabetically where they would be searched for. I remember having an argument with my Professor, saying I'd prefer to make a card for "Holmes" rather than "Doyle" (or make both) as "Doyle" was less likely to be searched for. I wonder how many people reading this would even grasp what it means. "Searching" today means keying in something, which takes about ten or fifteen seconds, and getting hundreds of results. You click in and click out - again in seconds ... Just some stray thoughts!! Love the emoticon! |
| For "Earn the Badge - Open" Oh, my goodness, how do I even go about this? Well, I have to begin somewhere. So let's begin with my first day on WDC, when I uploaded my first item and got reviews for it. Among the reviews was one from SHERRI GIBSON  . She was so kind to me, I asked her umpteen questions about the site. We exchanged six emails before I got the hang of b-item linking.Then there was "Project Write World" and iKïyå§ama-Happy 25th!  and everyone on Team India - Humming Bird  Dr M C Gupta and Just an Ordinary Boo! to name but three. Falguni and Jyo helped me with memberships and tech stuff and Dr. Gupta counted syllables for me till I learnt how to, every time my poem was to be submitted!  There's bas - the most loyal member of Team India, who has been the most consistent contributor to the team's efforts on the contest.On Team India, I've met Just an Ordinary Boo! and Soh ~ Luminousa  in person. Jyo helped with one of my quizzes and VikramAdith volunteered at a Christmas party run by my friend for economically deprived kids.Kiya also runs "The WDC Angel Army" along with someone who has covered for me when I've been unable to log on for a bit and needed a task done, WW is Monk!
Cop Shop @ Bard's  . To thank her, I make it a point to tell her when I'm in the New Year and she isn't yet due to time zones. This little joke has become a tradition between us. Then reviewing, via the Black Case Domination group run by 🦄🏳️🌈Sapph while I was a Registered Author, which got me publicly reviewing, and "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group" run by Maryann  Lornda  among others.There are the hundreds of reviewers who have given me constructive feedback, hundreds of contest hosts, I can't name all of them! More recently, "The Snail Mail Group" , started by Elle and carried on enthusiastically by Asterix  , which has given me so much joy. There I've met Grateful Jess Lilli ☕  and so many others who have given me so much emotional support through trying times.Steev the Friction Wizurd and ☮ The Grum Of Grums who doesn't log on much any more gave me emotional support during my eye surgeries. Dad , who is also a friend from the 'In-and-Out participants' category, does log on still and I truly value his friendship.I have to mention deemac  - one of the most gracious people ever, for putting up with me!Then there is ♥tHiNg♥  with her re-moos and encouragement, Schnujo's next semester starts  who re-defined a lot of things around here, my 'boyfriend', 🌖 HuntersMoon  who looks the other way when I flirt around ... There are all the judges of "The Writer's Cramp" , a contest I love so much. Thank you Sophy  for all you do quietly in the background to keep it running so smoothly. As also thanks Buffy in 2343485  for running the Daily Flash.There is my writing buddy, Amethyst Angel h✟k ♡  and my kidding-around buddy, Elycia Lee ☮  ...There's Kåre เลียม Enga  - who encouraged me to blog and shares my love for Harry Potter. There's ruwth  who is crazier about trinkets than I am ...There's EVERYONE here. I know I've forgotten some important names, forgive me, do. There are the Senior Mods and Staff and so many hundreds of people!! Thank you all!! |
| 1159 WORDS For "WDC Birthday Contest" Prompts used: 5. Waterfall. 6. Lake. 7. Sunrise. 8. Sunset. 9. Picnic. Mom didn't need to wake me up that morning, oh no. I didn't even need the alarm clock. I was out of bed without even the 'five minute more' pillow-cuddle. "Whoa - beautiful ..." I exclaimed in my head, watching the sunrise outside my window. First mellow, sparkling, then dancing a bit, then suddenly - light splashing across everything and my heart singing along. It was the day of the family picnic! Dad's side of the family had this picnic tradition since my grandpa was a young man. He had discovered, somewhere on the outskirts of the city, this wild wonderland. A mini forest with a waterfall in the middle, which flowed into a neat little lake. The approach road was bad, but no one minded. It meant that others hadn't discovered this paradise yet, and my family wanted to keep it that way. "Hurry, breakfast!" came Mom's voice from the kitchen. I heard Dad's footsteps as he raced there, and I joined him. "I'm too excited to eat," I said. "Just a bit of toast and honey," Mom coaxed. "Yeah, and that boiled egg looks good ..." I remarked, helping myself to it. "Not hungry, huh??" Dad chuckled, putting some cheese spread on his own toast. "Mom, I wish you were coming too," I said. "Don't talk with your mouth full," she quipped, twinkling at me. "No, dear, picnics are too much work for the women in the family. Your aunts are getting dropped off here and we're going to spend the day binge watching Three's Company." "Picnics aren't work," I protested. "They are for those who have to check you've dried yourself after the swim, then heat the food, then serve it, then wash the dishes. I've done my share of the work cooking this masala-dal for you to take." "You don't have to check if I've dried myself! I'll dry myself!" "If I'm not around, you'll remember to. If I am there, you know you'll want me to tell you. Now don't argue. You have fun your way, your aunts and I will have fun our way." "It'll be easier this year. We aren't taking the portable stove. We've decided not to heat the food. And there'll be paper plates," Dad contributed. "That's because the women aren't coming. If we were you'd want all the frills, you men. Anyway, I want you to to enjoy yourselves so don't let's get into this. Hurry up or they'll be here." I did a quick check - bathing suit, towel, change of clothes, first-aid kit, frisbee ... yup, all there. "Beep-bip-bip-bip!" "Uncle Sai's code horn! Bye Mom!" In my haste to get to the car, I almost bumped into Aunt Sarla and Aunt Hina, who were on their way in to the house. "Whoa, hurricane! Don't run like that down the slippery rocks at the picnic!" Aunt Hina admonished, but Aunt Sarla only winked at me. My cousins - Anish, Avani, Nikhil and Brinda, already in the car, cheered as Dad and I squeezed in - Dad in the front seat and me in the 'backest' seat. (The car was a mini-van, and we called them the back-backer-backest seats.) "We'll be going round the lakeside when we go," we sang, loudly, to the tune of "She'll be coming round the mountain". When Dad and Uncle Sai got tired of the noise, we started playing a 'count the white Fiats'. Along the route, we were joined by other family members in their cars. There were twenty seven men and kids going for this picnic. The women were all staying behind - some to watch TV, like my mother, others to go shopping, others to just catch up on some sleep with no one there to disturb them. As we got on to the highway our contingent was complete - a convoy of five cars headed for the lakeside. The ride was fun, but uneventful except for one 'flat' which was quickly mended. We were at the lakeside. Quickly, we clambered over the slippery forest floor to the lakeside. There, each of us picked a tree to go behind and change into bathing things. Then - splash, splash, splash -- we were in the clear, cool water, playing tag, ducking each other, floating on our backs -- generally wallowing in enjoyment. We kids weren't allowed to go into the waterfall itself by ourselves. The men held one or two kids each and guided us safely there, to comfortable rock-seats where the water created a gleaming curtain. "Okay, people," Uncle Sai called out, an hour-and-a-half later. "Time to move on." "Yeah, I'm hungry," came from most of the kids as we clambered out of the water. "Let's eat!" Slipping more because our feet were now wet and our hair was dripping, we headed for the ledge where the picnic hampers had been placed. "What did Mom tell you to do?" Dad called to me. "Enjoy myself," I replied, promptly, "and I am!" Dad grimaced, reached for my backpack among those near the picnic baskets and found my towel. He handed it to me without another word. I pouted a bit, I think, but I took it and rubbed myself dry. "Your hair is still wet," Brinda said. "You'll get a cold. Dry it properly." "You sound like a Mom," I muttered, drying my hair a bit more. Anything so that they'd let me eat. The paper plates weren't easy to hold. And they didn't fit nearly as much food as we needed in each helping. But we didn't want so many helpings, either. The taste was great as usual, but the cold soggy texture took some of the fun out of the meal. Brinda put herself in charge of ensuring we hadn't left any litter behind, and everyone helped re-pack the baskets with the empties. The car ride on the way back was quieter than the onward journey. It was not just that we were tired, but that everyone seemed to be deep in thought. The sunset was as spectacular as the sunrise had been. All the cars pulled over at a convenient spot so we could spend a few minutes together watching the sky change colour. It was Nikhil who broke the silence as the sun went down and the streetlights came on. "You know -- " he began. Everyone looked at him. "You know -- Mummy and all the aunts didn't come because we make them work so much ..." "Yeah," I agreed, and Brinda, Anish Avani and all the other cousins nodded. The men were looking down at the ground. "The picnic wasn't so much fun without them," Nikhil blurted. "Maybe next time we should all share the work, like Brinda did with picking up the litter today." The stars were beginning to appear, little pinpricks in the sky. Then, suddenly, a bright full moon swum into view from behind a cloud. "Tell you what," Uncle Pratap said. "Let's stop off and get some pizza and cake for the Moms and Aunts, shall we?" We did. |
To anyone reading this - I'm leaving it on Public Access because I enjoyed writing it and I hope people enjoy reading it, but our good witch Webbie has informed me that I didn't follow the contest guidelines properly  . So if you're planning to enter, please be a tad more careful about it than I was!  1. Most people don't know it, but it's not only pirates that board pirate ships. 2. I know you'll say that their victims board the ships, too. 3. But that's not quite what I meant. 4. You see, sometimes witches board pirate ships. 5. Yes, witches. 6. The witch flies on to the pirate ship on her broom, unseen by anyone. 7. The lookouts aren't looking out at the sky, after all, they're looking at the sea. 8. (Yes, yes, nice pun, they're all at sea!) 9. Not all witches take on the task of boarding pirate ships and teaching pirates a lesson, however. 10. Oh, no. 11. It has to be a really brave witch, a really clever one, one who wants justice for all. 12. And do you know what? 13. Do you see what I'm getting at? 14. Our very own WW is Monk! Cop Shop @ Bard's is just such a witch.15. Brave, clever, selfless. 16. So when she heard that treasure had been stolen and needed looking for, she mounted her broom at once. 17. "I'll find it, don't you fear," she cried, as everyone cheered. 18. "But you won't go alone," buzzed a voice. 19. StephBee  , the bee with the zingiest sting, flew alongside.20. "I'll help you," this courageous bee buzzed. 21. "Now I know I'll succeed," WebWitch shouted, as the pair soared into the sky, over the rolling sea. 22. It didn't take them long to locate the ship. 23. WebWitch dismounted and Brave Bee perched on her shoulder. 24. The pirates, most of whom were asleep, didn't hear a thing. 25. So Webbie and Brave Bee stole the treasure back from the pirates and stored it in WDC Party Central till it was needed. 25 sentences! Words: 288 |
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