What You Don't Know #BarAThon

This prompt had me scratching my head for ideas but I just turned up with blanks. So as always I thought I would do a free write and see where my thoughts take me.

I really wanted to write on a spiritual theme but perhaps today I'm not supposed to. Instead the thought of the things that you perhaps don't know about me keeps going around in my head So here are some things that you don't know about me.

I was 2 years old when I took my first trip overseas to Singapore from Bombay. The flights back then took almost 12 hours and the propeller jets made the most awful noise. I screamed my head off for most of the flight and broke my mother's watch. Having heard this story from my mother, I now have a great tolerance for kids on planes.

I was about 6 years old when my dad bought me a puzzle book. Quite similar to the logic puzzles you get today I absolutely loved the book and it began my love affair with puzzles, one of the many things I had in common with my dad  When Sudoku came into existence, both my dad and I took to it like a duck to water. My dad had a routine of solving sudoku and word puzzles everyday. I try and solve one sudoku puzzle everyday usually on the bus home from work.

I was about 8 years old when at a movie (can't remember which one), they were handing out a  picture for a colouring competition held by Eagle flasks. My dad sent my colouring in and I won the 3rd prize - you guessed it, an Eagle flask.  Don't remember what the picture was but I do remember I coloured it in various shades of green and blue. And I don't know why that sticks so much in my memory.

Do share some of your What You Don't Know things.


I am participating in the Blog-a-rhythm Blogathon. A 7 day blogging festival. 
I am with Team #CrimsonRush
Day 2 prompt is What You Don't Know.

Warm Regards


Tweet

Follow me on
My facebook page Suzy's Ilation
Bloglovin
Pinterest Suzy Que
Google+ Suzy Que

Remembering #Songs - Moon River

I am participating in the Write Tribe Festival Of Words. This is a 7 day festival from 10 July to 16 July.

My theme is "Remembering Songs". These are songs that trigger some memory.


"Moon River" from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's"  is my song for day 3.

I was 11 years old when I saw this movie on a luxury cruise liner from Singapore to Hong Kong. And since then I've loved this song.

Many years later my daughter and I  watched it together. It's one of our favourite "watch together" movies, And at every trip to New York walking past Tiffany's is a must.

Here is the song from the movie sung by Audreey Hepburn one of my favourite actresses.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOByH_iOn88


Do you have  a favourite "watch together" movie?


My posts so far:
Day 1 -  Asmara
Day 2 -  Twilight On The Trail

Day 3 linkup


Warm Regards


Tweet

Follow me on
My facebook page Suzy's Ilation
Bloglovin
Pinterest Suzy Que
Google+ Suzy Que

Remembering #Songs - Twilight on the Trail

I am participating in the Write Tribe Festival Of Words. This is a 7 day festival from 10 July to 16 July.

My theme is "Remembering Songs". These are songs that trigger some memory

Carrying on from day 1 that had songs from my childhood, day 2 is all about the songs that I skipped and danced to when I was little - say about 10 years old.

Nat King Cole's Ramblin' Rose album was a big hit in our home, We had a big lounge and verandah and whenever we listened to this album my mom, brother and I would sing together and I would start my skipping. Those were such joyful days.

The musical side of us comes from my mother. My father on the hand was a sportsman. I did the singing with my mother and walking with my father,

One of the songs on the album that I loved was Twilight On The Trail. Back then I didn't understand the meaning of the song I just loved the rhythm and the tune. And it had a good beat for skipping. In fact most of the songs on the album were good for skipping.

I love the simplicity of life depicted in this song: We should be like this - in tune with nature and content with life just the way it is.

When it's twilight on the trail,

And I jog along, 

The world is like a dream 

And the ripple of the stream is my song.

When it's twilight on the trail,

And I rest once more, 

My ceiling is the sky 

And the grass on which I lie is my floor.

Never ever have a nickel in my jeans,

Never ever have a debt to pay, 

Still I understand what real contentment means, 

Guess I was born that way.

When it's twilight on the trail,

And my voice is still, 

Please plant this heart of mine 

Underneath the lonesome pine on the hill

Twilight on the trail - Nat King Cole from the album we had shown in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9D9IEdEQ2k


Is there a song that brings back a childhood memory? Write a post or share in a comment.


My posts so far:
Day 1 -  Asmara

Day 2 linkup 


Warm Regards


Tweet

Follow me on
My facebook page Suzy's Ilation
Bloglovin
Pinterest Suzy Que
Google+ Suzy Que

Remembering #Songs - Asmara

I am participating in the Write Tribe Festival Of Words. This is a 7 day festival from 10 July to 16 July.

My theme is "Remembering Songs". These are songs that trigger some memory.

Day 1 begins with songs my mother used to sing to me in Malay (Bahasa Melayu / Bahasa Indonesia).

So while my friends were learning nursery rhymes I was learning these songs. I was 2 years old when I learned my first song - Burong Kakatua - a song about a cockatoo.

 I remember my mother had a record of Anneke Gronloh who sang these songs.  And I think her favourite was Asmara. I can still see her singing it and later when I grew up we used to sing it together. Haven't done that for a while now.

I love listening to these songs even though I don't understand every word. The melodies are lovely.

Isn't that the best thing about music - you don't need to understand the words, just the melodies can touch your soul.

So here are some songs for your listening pleasure

Asmara - a song about heartbreak


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Qox6PMzGg


Burong Kakatua - the first song I ever learned. The record cover shown is one of the ones we had.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEi4577ByjY


Bengawan Solo - an Indonesian folk song about the river Solo. Another one of my favourites. This version is very soulful.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvdpavLYGk


What was the first song you learned?  Write a post or leave a comment.

Day 1 linkup


Warm Regards


Tweet

Follow me on
My facebook page Suzy's Ilation
Bloglovin
Pinterest Suzy Que
Google+ Suzy Que

Cherished Blog Fest - Memories

The Cherished Blog Fest

is Hosted by:
Damyanti – Daily (w)rite  /  Dan Antion – No Facilities  /  Paul Ruddock – Echoes of the Pen
Peter Nena – Demogorgon’s Fiction  /  Sharukh Bamboat – India Destinations

Their directive:

Often, objects lead us to memories.

The objects we hold most dear, harbor the most cherished memories.

For the CHERISHED Blogfest, we invite you to talk to us about one of your cherished objects.
Tell us what it is, post a picture of it if you like, and tell us why you cherish it.

Keep your post to below 500 words.

Join us on the 24th to 26th of July 2015 in sharing memories, emotions, information.
We’ll read and comment on each others’ posts, get to know each other better,
and hopefully, make or renew some friendships.

I try not to lay too much importance on objects as these come and go. My prized possessions are my photographs for they are moments I have captured in time and each tell a story, trigger a memory and take me back to a moment in time.

I couldn't possibly post all my pictures here so instead I'll pick one that always brings back happy memories. Christmas is always such a joyful time of year and these pictures each have a story behind it.

Each year I buy an ornament each for my children - their little special something. The ornaments shown here were the Christmas 2013 ornaments.

The climbing Santa was a gift to my dad from his grandchildren in the US. It was special to him and now it's special to us too.

The Angel on the tree is my special angel. She always gives me a feeling of peace and protection.

And each year my mom cooks an awesome Christmas meal for all of us and the whole family gets together to enjoy the meal. It's always a happy time.

My greatest joy at Christmas is the giving and appreciating the receiving.



Warm Regards


Tweet

Follow me on
My facebook page Suzy's Ilation
Bloglovin
Pinterest Suzy Que
Google+ Suzy Que

My Earliest Memory

Some days ago some of us Write Tribers, a group of very talented and fun loving bloggers, shared some pictures of our young days and that gave us the idea of writing about our earliest memories.

So I have the privilege and honour of starting off some memories that the Write Tribers are going to share on their blogs today.

http://writetribe.com/

I have some great memories of my childhood but the earliest was hard to determine. Of course there are many stories that parents and siblings can tell, but I wanted to write about the memory I have.

I've already shared one of my earliest memories with my dad so today I'll share one of my paternal grandparents.

They both were soulmates. They loved each other with all their heart and soul. During the Quit India movement when my grandmother (who was later classified as a freedom fighter) was imprisoned by the British, my grandfather offered to go to prison instead of her as my aunt was only a few months old. That's the kind of love they shared. In the end the British showed their compassionate side and let them both go. 

But back to the memory. My Dadima (grandmother) always sat at the head of the table. I always sat to her left and my Dadaji (grandfather)  sat to her right opposite me. Each mealtime he would tap with his spoon and we both would sing loudly together "Jessie tho Devi, Devanti Devi" (Jessie is a Goddess. A Goddess of Goddesses). And Dadima would laugh and say "Shu Papa?" (What Papa?)

This memory always makes me smile. He sang with so much love and joy. It was a fun moment for me too. My Dadaji died when I was 8 years old. This ritual started a long time before he died so I was quite little probably 4 or 5 years old. 

Btw my Dadima's father nicknamed all his children with English names. So my Dadima was Jessie and my Dadaji always called her by that name. And Dadima always called Dadaji Papa.

Here are pictures of them:

   

    

And now it's Psych Babler's turn to share her earliest memory. She blogs at  Over Cups of Coffee. Do drop by and check her post too.

Happy Memories

Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, post a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

Tweet

Warm Regards

UBC Day 18 - Little Did She Know

Day 18 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Written for: Write Tribe 55 on Friday
Also linking to: Theme Thursday prompt Doubts

Little did she know what was in store.

The marketplace faded as her eyes fell on him. Memories came flooding through.

"He would've looked like him if he had lived",  she thought wistfully, foolishly wishing they could meet again.

"But I always thought I'd see you again",  sang the busker.  She looked heavenward and smiled.

the market

the busker

Theme Thursday prompt Doubts

Whenever I have doubts, I usually look heavenward and ask the question. The universe always sends an answer if we only learn to listen.

 Many questions and doubts went through my mind as the memories flashed through yesterday.

More often than not I get the answers from a song and yesterday was no different. Thank you Universe.



May today be the day you  find the answers you seek. May today be the day your doubts are resolved.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

Tweet


Warm Regards

My Personal Journey with Memories

I am taking part in the Write Tribe Festival Of Words 8th - 14th December 2013

My series on 7 journeys for the last festival was a lot of fun to write and having a theme made it a lot easier too. So learning from that experience, I thought I would have a theme again. This time I'll take you on a personal journey.

So here begins my journey with today's prompt "Memories"

God gave us memories so we can have roses in Winter ~ JM Barrie

image source: google images

One of my favourite memories is of my childhood with my dad. I was six years old and dad brought home a puzzle book for me. Can't remember now what it was called but I absolutely loved it and it started my love affair with puzzles. Something I shared with my dad - he loved puzzles too.

Each night after Dinner, my dad and I would sit together and solve one puzzle. It was my favourite time of day. This was dad and my time together. He was so patient and he made it all sound easy and so much fun. Then I would trot off to bed, a skip in my step and a smile on my face, my little pillow tucked under my arm. This is a memory that always makes me smile.

Thank God for memories and Thank You God for giving me such a wonderful dad, the best ever. The memories of him will live in my heart forever. Be at peace Dad.

Join me tomorrow on my next personal journey with Food

And check out some Day 1 posts.

Have a fun day.

Warm Regards


Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

Tweet

100 Words - Lasting Memories

My grandmother telling us stories of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. I would sit riveted and Lord Rama became, forever, my hero.

Six year old me doing puzzles with my dad each evening.

Watching "Sleeping Beauty" (at least 1000 times) with my daughter when she was little.

Watching my son (at 4 years) make 3D models of houses and transformer toys.

Watching my mum make her delicious lamington cakes - never tasted better ones than hers.

Playing cricket with my brother and reading comics.

Playing with my dogs Snoopy and Fuji.

Some romantic and enchanted moments.

The list goes on!

I'm a little late for linking up, but this is my entry for 100 Words at Everyday Gyaan.

Wish you a day of fond memories.

Warm Regards

Question of the day - What is your happiest childhood memory

 


And what makes it so special?




This is a real easy one to answer.

I was six years old when my dad bought me a puzzle book. I can't remember the book but have a vague recollection of stick figures.

Each night after dinner we would sit together and solve a page of puzzles.

Doing puzzles with him was so much fun and my dad was so kind.  He was the kindest man I ever knew.

Why is this so special?  Because this was my time with dad - just him and me. After solving a page of puzzles, I always skipped to bed, I was so happy.

I love doing puzzles and I think it's because of those puzzles I did with dad as a six year old.

Over the years and right until he died, he and I often did puzzles together. Sudoku was our favourite, still is for me.

I narrated this story at his funeral because it is special to me.

Dad, someday when we meet again, we'll do those puzzles together.


Please share your memories.