The Bespectacled Mother

Archive for the tag “#Festivalofwords”

26 Jun 2018
25 Comments

The era of silent rebellion #writebravely

My father gave me three life rules to live by:

  1. Study hard and get a job.
  2. Learn to drive and become independent.
  3. Drop the romantic ideals and become practical. For example, make friends with those who can be of use in moving forward in life rather than based on their character’s qualities.

The first two were easy, but the third one proved difficult all because of a cheeseburger. Let me explain.

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I belong to the era when fathers used to be fearful dragon characters. Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , , , , ,
11 Aug 2017
29 Comments

Let’s just chat over coffee #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for the last day, Day 7 in response to the prompt – ‘If we were having coffee…’

If we were having coffee…

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Image source : Pixabay

  1. I shall tell you how happy I am that my parents have come to stay with me for a few days. I shall love to treat you with sweets and laddoos, they have brought with them.
  2. I shall tell you there is no other place like Delhi, among all the Indian metro cities, where you can get the best of mithai (sweets). I missed the sweet delicacies of Delhi a lot when I used to live in the UK. All the cakes and pastries of the world are nothing in front of ‘Dilli ki mithai’. 
  3. I shall ask you if you remember my Day 3 post on Delhi – ‘Delhi in ruins’? Just do me a favour and kick it out of your mind for today my mood is chirpy and filled with happy thoughts about many things.
  4. I shall tell you my early morning workload has reduced for the time being with my mother taking care of the cooking part. Mommies are wonderful human beings, isn’t it?
  5. I shall tell you how much I am looking forward to the next 4 days of the extended weekend which means I do not have to wash Dhruv’s white uniform urgently.  You can imagine what holidays mean to me.
  6. I shall tell you that WTFOW#6 has been an enriching experience for me. The prompts were easy for even a not-so-seasoned-writer like me. I had fun writing and bringing out posts everyday and interacting with fellow bloggers, many who have been with me and also many new ones.
  7. I shall tell you that I found my blog’s 200th WordPress follower on the same day on which I had written my letter. She is Sheethal Susan Jacob who blogs at Scribblings. Can I ask you a second favour? Will you be kind and follow her blog on my insistence? I know you love me for who I am and will not refuse me.
  8. I shall tell you as much as I am happy and content with my participation in WTFOW#6, I am also looking forward for it to get over so that I can get back to reading my books. Especially, the ones – ‘Perfect’ and ‘Flawed’ by Cecelia Ahern, which I bought with the Amazon gift coupon I won as the winner of Day 1 of this Write Tribe festival.
  9. Realizing that our coffee is almost finished, I shall ask you if you had a good time having coffee with me? And, would you love to meet me over coffee again, someday? I promise I am going to speak less the next time and let you do all the talking. I promise to be all ears.

Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , , ,
10 Aug 2017
54 Comments

Guest Post : Open a Book…Together #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 6 in response to the prompt – ‘Feature a guest.’

For my guest post, I am thankful to Sunaina Bhatia who agreed to do this post for me at a short notice. Sunaina Bhatia is an avid reader and a talented blogger who blogs at ‘When I stopped to smell a rose’ and ‘Mere desh ki mitti’. She is a good friend, I have found courtesy the world of blogging, and both of us share the same passion and commitment for raising readers. You have read about my reading journey with Dhruv quite a lot. Today, Sunaina will be taking you along her reading journey with her 2 children.

If you think raising a single child as a reader is a challenge, then Sunaina is an inspiration for all of us because she is doing the same with 2 kids.

Let’s give her a warm welcome.

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Image source : Pixabay

 When my son was born, among other things that I bought for him in the first six months were books. Small, colourful picture books that he started holding the day he started sitting up. It was a ‘weird’ sight for many, and some even laughed at me and considered me crazy. But I turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to all criticism and continued my ‘crazy’ shopping. I even started going to the library, a blessing in the US. Free access to countless treasures in print lured me almost every week. And icing on the cake was the library bus, the Bookmobile, that would visit every fortnight, the complex we lived in.

Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , , , ,
09 Aug 2017
38 Comments

Letter to my 200th WP follower #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 5 in response to the prompt – ‘Write a letter.’

Dear 200th WordPress follower,

I hope this letter finds you in the pink of your health.

You are awaited, eagerly awaited.

The Write Tribe Festival of Words has brought me closer to you. I was standing at a distance of number 6 from you for over a week and now I can’t believe I have a reason to celebrate.

It has been 3 days of earnestly staring at my blog’s stats page. I have called out for you everywhere in the void – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But, you are elusive.

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Image courtesy : Pixabay

If I were a religious temple going person, I might as well have vowed to distribute ‘sava rupay ka prasad’ Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , , ,
08 Aug 2017
40 Comments

My day ends at 7.20 am #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 4 in response to the prompt – ‘Feature a day in your life or someone else’s life.’

Just like everyday, the alarm rings at 6 am in the bedroom.

Just like everyday, I am in the kitchen preparing food for the tiffin boxes. They are 3 in number. Within 2 seconds, I am in the bedroom and even before my mouth opens, the voice in my head startles out loud in the repetitive mode setting – “Dhruv, uth jaa, 6 baj gaye. Wake up Dhruv, it is 6’o’ clock now.” The repetition in my head makes me qualified to become the cuckoo inside the wall clock with the only difference of my not cuckooing but ‘uth jaa, uth jaa, 6 baj gaye’.

And, since the cuckoo in my head is incapable of waking him up, my voice comes to my rescue.  What happens next is also the everyday pattern. Taking him to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, giving him a bath, getting him ready and bringing him to the dining table in a matter of next 30 minutes.

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Image Courtesy : Pixabay

Do you know early morning exhaustion? Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , , ,
07 Aug 2017
23 Comments

Delhi in ruins #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 3 in response to the prompt – ‘Feature a map and write about a place either real or virtual’.

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Ask me, “What is Delhi for me?” and I will reply it is in ruins.

I can see you twitching your face slightly because this is not how you see the city of Delhi which is ever expanding, where the new takes over the old swiftly. But didn’t you ask me the view from my eyes? Yes, it is in ruins, I would say again.

However, it was not like this always.

At 18, when I moved to Delhi for higher education, Delhi was promising. It was hope. It was a dream. Delhi, for me then, was laying its foundation.

5 years later, Delhi turned into a building, Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , ,
06 Aug 2017
19 Comments

My 3 empowering resources #writebravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 2 in response to the prompt ‘Write about a resource or resources you have’.

I am a parent who is raising her son single-handedly for the past 2 years in a city where I had no family or relatives to depend upon for a considerably long time. While I am acting as the single parent by circumstances with the husband being away in a different country for work but the decision to live on my own alone was a choice I exercised independently.

Often, I am posed this question of ‘How do I live alone with a small kid?’

Some think I am strong while there are many who think I am a fool to do what I am doing. My answers never satisfy such people and hence they come back to question me repeatedly.

Therefore, today, I thought of sharing my 3 resources which empower me to deal with my everyday life effectively. Read more…

Posted in Blogging Challenges and tagged , , , ,
05 Aug 2017
24 Comments

My cherished treasure #WriteBravely

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6‘ and this is my post for Day 1 in response to the prompt ‘Write about a treasure you have’.

Long ago I read somewhere that the only relationship one gets to have a say in choosing is friendships. All the rest of the relationships are either entrusted to us by the virtue of birth or marriage.

The best of the friendships are those where the persons involved contribute in uplifting each other with positivity and understanding.

Do you remember how important it used to be for us in kindergarten to promptly answer to the frequently posed question to us – ‘Who is your best friend’? And we always promptly answered furnishing our best friend’s name with a sense of pride. Having a best friend was the ultimate thing.

Then, we kept adding friends as we moved on along the way in life, right through school, college and the  Read more…

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