Fun Challenges – soniasmusings

The vibes of my heart go round and round

It’s been more than a month that I have written anything. The toddler and I kept falling sick and despite my frustration of feeling stuck in such hapless circumstances, I learned to slow down while convincing myself to adapt to the situation. March is a reminder of the hectic life that April with its A2Z challenge is going to bring. I had Bengal as my theme last year but I am still undecided about a theme for this year’s challenge. So I am going to request all those who read this post to leave their suggestion of a theme in the comment box.

The best way to restart any job is by beginning with something that is fun. And I have always loved photography and the layers of emotions that every picture can bring to one’s perspective. The theme for TPC this week is ’round’ and I couldn’t resist myself from putting up a wacky picture relevant to the theme.

So, those who know me are well aware of my love for momos. I can survive on momos and coffee for life. As a student, there were days when I had momos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and yet I never got tired of them. When we visited Shillong in Meghalaya in Oct 2017, I couldn’t miss tasting momos at Shillong Cafe famous for this delicacy. Since my husband doesn’t share my unnatural enthusiasm for this dish and the toddler was more interested in his strawberry shake, I had these soft and delicious momos arranged in a perfectly round shape on a white round plate all by myself. I feel grateful for such moments of little joy in my life.

The gigantic, majestic and mesmerizing waterfall

October 2012 – it was the first year of Durga Puja without Ma being around and cajoling T and me to try coming back to Bengal at least for a week during the pujas. We had decided to go for a small trip to Kerala instead. Our three days trip had three places on our itinerary – the backwaters of Alleppey, the Chinese fishing nets of Kochi and the majestic waterfall of Athirapally.

Athirapally was our last destination before returning back to Mysore. When we drove down from Kochi through Challakudy to reach this place, we had only heard about this place because the movie ‘Ravana’ by Mani Ratnam starring Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vikram was shot here. However, when we witnessed the 80 ft fall in front of our eyes and heard the sound that the water generated, we stood mesmerized.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Go Big’ this week.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha.

The history and mystery surrounding the steps

This January, I decided to work on a travel diary based on the rich historical background of my home district Murshidabad in Bengal. I had moved out of my hometown Berhampore in 1999 for higher studies. For sixteen long years, I stayed in different cities owing to education and job assignments. When we moved back in 2016, Kolkata had become our new home. In the backyard of my memories, Murshidabad always had a strong influence. I extended my stay at my in-laws for a month this time. Every alternate day, I visited places of historical significance in Murshidabad to understand the folklore surrounding it, read up history books, listened to a tourist guide’s version of its history and clicked numerous snaps. This series formed a part of my BlogchatterA2Z challenge based on the theme ‘A dollop of Bengal”(letters H – M).

This photo was clicked at Nasipur Rajbari (Palace). This palace used to be the court of Debi Singha – the tax collector (in)famous for his atrocities towards the poor. A portion of this property has now been converted into an art museum and library. These steps with a tainted history of bloodshed and pain evoked a feeling of eeriness in me.

(198 words)

When the steps decide between right and wrong — *Photo prompt – copyright@soniasmusings*

This is the third post (nonfiction) written as part of the #MyfriendAlexa campaign on the theme ‘Shades of Perception’. You can read the first flash fiction around this picture prompt here and the second one here.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Backyard’ this week.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha.

I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter

Lift me up as I touch the zenith of joy

My husband (T) and my toddler (also T) are the best of friends. Senior T is posted in a city far away from Kolkata. He travels back to the city only over the weekends. Whenever Senior T is at home, Junior T doesn’t leave him even for a minute. With the onset of monsoon seasons, Junior T has been suffering from recurring viral fever. A couple of weeks back, he was still in the recovery process and had been missing his father a lot. His father decided to surprise him by turning up a day earlier than usual. On spotting his father after waking up, the surprised toddler jumped on him out of joy while senior T instantly lifted him up higher leading to a moment worth capturing.

Lift me up as I recah the zenith of joy — *The father-son reunion*

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Lift’ this week.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha.

A new journey of togetherness

Wedding-TPC — *A new journey of togetherness*

This picture is from my wedding in 2011. Though the Hindu Bengali wedding is full of such beautiful moments, this particular scene is a personal favorite. I feel that this frame depicts one of the most poignant moments of my marriage. For me, it signifies that two souls united by the threads of love, trust, and understanding have chosen to walk together in this new phase of life.

If you want to read more about Bengali weddings, you can read my personalized post here.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Scene’ this week.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha.

Freedom from bias through toys – Indian Independence Day special

There’s an assortment of toys lying at various corners of my apartment. From soft toys to remote-controlled gadgets suitable for his age group, the soon to turn three-year-old cherishes every single purchase. Until a certain point, his favorite play items were pieces of paper, empty cartons, and discarded boxes. His next favorite became the huge collection of soft toys that were mostly accumulated as gifts. But the preferences shifted at every phase of growing up.

However, if there’s any toy set that has maintained the consistency of being his favorite for a year now, it will have to the plastic kitchen set meant for kids in the age group of 2 – 5 years. Other than the fact that we get to eat some delicious items cooked by him, this set also has a high sentimental value for him. It was gifted to my son on his second birthday by our cook who saved up money so that she could give him a gift.

Today is India’s 72nd Independence Day. Decades back, there were ample opportunities to move out and make a more developed country my home. But I chose to stay back for reasons close to my heart. Despite the number of years, it pains to see that my motherland is still shackled by quite a few regressive thoughts and practices. My son and his kitchen set are not mere toys in our household. They stand for our thoughts in trying to bring a change in the tiniest of ways, It is our way to break the taboo associated with gender stereotyping or casteism.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Toy’ this week.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha.

The beauty of symmetry in rows

My husband and I have always grabbed the slightest of opportunities to travel to the unexplored destinations. During our first road trip from Mysore (Karnataka, India) to Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu, India), we were exhausted after traveling for nine hours. As we got down near the reception, this is the first sight that greeted us beyond which lay the cloud embraced hills.

The row of flower pots arranged symmetrically added to the beauty of the place. During our three days stay there, we realized that almost everything about the resort followed an alignment in the pattern of rows. The planning of cottages or placing of chairs and flower pots were evidence to our conclusion.

The beauty in symmetery — *The beauty in symmetry – Kodaikanal*

At times, I wish I knew how to arrange my life into a neat and symmetrical pattern of rows since chaos seems to be a permanent guest here.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Row’ this week. Linking this up with Wordless Wednesday created by Esha and Natasha as well.

The field that connected nature with civilization

A Field amidst nature — The field that connected nature with civilization

This picture was clicked at Munnar, Kerala (India). As a married couple, this was the first hill station we had traveled together embarking on the first of many travel journeys that followed suit. Driving down from Mysore, it took us eleven hours to reach this beautiful town in Kerala yet the scenic beauty was enough to rejuvenate our soul. The field in this picture was the grazing ground for the animals but during the tiffin break, it also served as the play ground for the school kids on the opposite side of the road. The field was surrounded by houses, schools, offices and a research laboratory beyond which started the hills. We stood mesmerized by the rare and peaceful co-existence of nature and civilization.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge on the theme ‘Field’ this week.

Linking up with Esha and Natasha as my third Wordless Wednesday post.

Wind in my hair gave wings to my dreams

Despite loving hills and mountains, I have always had a major fear of heights. In 2009, I had been freshly recruited as a Branch Manager for one of India’s topmost private banks. Along with another twenty-three campus recruits from different B-schools in the country, we were sent for a month-long training program at the Bank’s training center in Khandala (Maharashtra). Over the weekend, few of us started planning short trips to the nearby cities of Pune, Lavasa, Lonavala, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. After a daylong tour at Mahabaleshwar, the last destination was an age-old temple post which we had planned to return back to our center. Just adjacent to this temple, we located a cliff that provided an amazing view of the surrounding. Confident of my unwillingness to climb the cliff, the team had begun retracing their steps when the gutsy wind swept my hair over my face, giving me a hitherto unknown strength. Along with my friends, I climbed the cliff to a safe zone near its edge by letting go of all my inhibitions. As I stood there breathing in the beauty of nature, the feeling was that of an achiever. I still say that I have never felt so liberated even till today.

This post is part of the Tuesday Photo Challenge with the theme ‘Wind’ this week.

Linking up with Esha and Natasha as my second Wordless Wednesday post.

Passing on the love of playing football

My 69-year-old father used to be an avid footballer in his youth. Despite circumstantial constraints, he managed to make it to the District team before recurring asthma attacks forced him to quit the game forever. Ever since my toddler started preschool three months back, he has developed an extreme fondness for the game of football. On observing this, my father has started taking a renewed interest in playing this game with my son. I realize that this playtime is one of the strongest bonds between a grandfather and his grandson where the older generation passes on his experience, love, and learnings of the game to the future generation.