I am Thankful for

   In the USA the fourth Thursday of November is celebrated as Thanksgiving Day  In 1621 the colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a three-day feast to celebrate a successful autumn harvest.

   In India we don't have Thanksgiving Day but we definitely have a lot to be thankful for. Here are the views of a few members of the Writestuff Writers' Club.

Priya: I am thankful to my family, my friends, for having a roof over my head, getting my daily meals and most of all I am thankful to God for carrying me through troubled times.

Aanchal: I am thankful to be born as a woman who can love, nurture and inspire.

To belong to a family who has gifted me with values and good upbringing. To belong to a country with a rich and varied culture, natural beauty and great history that is every neighbour's envy. To be blessed with everything I need and some more to share with others. To be healthy and wise so I can take care of myself and others.

Ayushi: I am thankful for the mistakes, as they are the best teachers, for the faults in me as they inspire me to be better, thankful for the hard times as they keep me hopeful for the good ones, for all that is lost as it prepares me for something new and better to come and I am thankful for my failures, so I can enjoy the process of trying again.

Phorum: I am thankful for mistakes, imagination and a heart that beats – no matter what.

Riccu: I am thankful that we have more holidays than America

Ayush: I am thankful to whatever made me stubborn, for without it, I'd never have travelled this road I'm on. I am thankful to Nature, because she provides for all – you only need to look in the right places. I thank my parents, for not agreeing with me, but supporting me nonetheless. I am thankful to my friends, for hanging around when no one else did, making sure I never strayed back into dark waters. And last of all, I am thankful to you Patricia, for believing in me, for the gazillion references, and for being the reason I'm writing this from an actual workplace!

Karthik: I'm not sure what I should be thankful for. How can someone be thankful for only some things in life. It's not possible. I do think though, that we keep forgetting to be thankful for everything that we do have

I think Karthik said it for me. We should be thankful for everything.

Without Repeating a Single Word

Is it easy to write six sentences without repeating a single word? Not easy, but definitely possible, say my IC Advertising students. Here are eight little gems:
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------


 They screeched into town, engine hissing, threatening to fall apart, tyres smoking. Their bags were full: guns, bullets, blood-soaked money. With them arrived the distinct smell of gunpowder. Very few people understood what this meant. But everyone knew trouble when it came. Grown men ran, children cowered under beds, and women peeped through cracks in wooden doors.
 - Aranyaka
            -------------------------------------------

Rumba is a dance of love. It tells stories through movements. The man holds his lady as if she will be the only one there. Their hearts beat together. Rhythm takes over. They melt down. Silhouettes then blend into unison.
 - Komal
           ---------------------------------------------------

Walking along the river holding his hand had always been her dream. He knew what she wanted and was willing to do anything that made Jennifer happy. But destiny is not in one's favour everytime. David's blood cancer would kill him very soon. Doctors lost all hopes. Why is life so difficult?
 - Priyanshu.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Six cups of coffee did not help. Pacing up and down made no difference. Why was he so tense? Normally nothing perturbed him. Today, everything about his life would be changing. After waiting for hours it finally happened. The president had been chosen.
 - Ranjani
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Our reality is based on false truths. Driven by intense greed, the human civilization exists in a constant state of ignorance. Mother Earth and her pagan gods left behind. We have ventured far into oblivion. Beyond any rhyme or reason. Time bears mute witness.
 - Srikant
--------------------------------------------------------------

Rain lightly covered Princess Street, as if a baker was dusting freshly baked doughnuts with powdered sugar. Our hero limped along, his arthritic knee was acting up again. Few other people were out at this late hour. He suddenly stopped, stepped inside the seedy, hole-in-the-wall type establishment, well known for cheap booze, loud drunks and easy women.
   'Barkeep, whisky double, straight up, keep 'em comin.'
   'Good to see you Fred,' said the bartender sarcastically, pouring Scotch generously into six shot glasses.
 - Viren
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes in life you feel the fight left in you is over.
Sail through tides, bustle through winds, venture into dark nights and be thankful for such immaculate design.
 For time will end, while your life flashes past.
Wonder - did joy come to people around your space?
 How has enrichment been derived through you?
 Racing toward  perfect dreams without appreciating quality around one's environment isn't a way to live.
   Sheldon
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a bird.
He had been christened Cody.
His owner lives in this house.
But the fowl's home happened to be an oven.
One day somebody accidentally turned that OTG on.
Someone somewhere died.
  - Manaswi

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Describing a Tree, using the 5 senses

it's a pleasure to teach the students of Advertising and Marketing (ADMA) in XIC this year. For their first written assignment I asked them to write an essay, describing a tree to a blind man, using the five senses. Here are a few essays:


DESCRIBING A TREE TO A BLIND MAN - USING THE FIVE SENSES.
------------------------------------------------

           

   Starting at the roots, they grab the ground like you'd wrap your fingers around a large ball of dough.
   The trunk is wide and uneven, like three people huddled together, trying to stay out of the rain under just one umbrella.
   There are knots on the trunk, like grandfather's knobbly knees. The bark on the trunk is rough and crumbly like the underside of a tandoori roti, and it smells a little like one too. The gash in the trunk, with sap oozing out, is like blood when you nick your finger, and probably just as painful for the tree. The sap smells and feels like sticky caramel toffee when it's fresh and the dried drops are like little misshapen glass marbles.
   The trunk is tall, twice your height and then starts to branch out like its stopped raining and the three people under the umbrella are going their separate ways.
   There are as many leaves as the hair on your head, each as large as your palm and shaped like it too. They feel like freshly starched laundry if you crush them in your palm and smell like a freshly mown lawn. The low-hanging leaves are dark and rough like your daily newspaper and when they move it reminds me of Dad reading it at the breakfast table. The younger smaller leaves are smooth and light, like the satin tablecloth on the dining table.
 by Viren Fernandes
-------------------------------------
      
A large old tree, in the beginning of Autumn

   There is a slight nip in the air, and right in front of us is an old, large tree. Take off your shoes, feel the leaves on the ground and the crunchy sound, like lightly crumpled pieces of paper. You step on them and they crackle and crinkle, from solid into dust.
    Can you smell the moisture in the air and feel the dampness between your toes?
    Now lean forward the touch the trunk. The tree is wider and maybe three times taller than you. The trunk is coarse, like the lines and wrinkles on an old man's face. It has an uneven surface. Run your hands along the bark, feel the flaky nature of the exterior, it crumbles and peels, with a crackling sound. This is the skin of the tree, much like yours. The slowly flowing thick liquid is the sap, it smells sweet but not like ripened fruit , just softer. It's thicker than saliva and is to the tree what blood is to you.
   Leaves are shaped like your hands, wide at the base, tapered at the top. New leaves are soft, like old leather shoes, velvety and soft to touch. The older leaves are like thicker paper, feel the soft powdery feel of dust on them. Tear them and hear them rip, like thin cloth. Old leaves on the floor are signs of decay.
   The new leaves are like new life. Brown is the colour of decay and aging. Green is the colour of life. This tree is both living and dying. New leaves are light, new to life, like infants. The leaves are veined, much like your palm, with one thick line down the middle.
   The tree is like you in many ways. Your feet can be compared to its roots planted in the ground. It's branches are like your arms and the leaves grow on extensions like the fingers on your hand.
   And at this time of the year, the tree droops like an old man with a wrinkled face. He has been around for a long time and will be.
   This is a tree in autumn, a large old tree biding its time.
by Aranyaka Mohapatra
--------------------------------------------------------
   

   Behold! The night blooming cereus, queen of the night. A tree unlike any other, the phoenix of the plant kingdom. Her tender yet scaly stems jut out from the raw earth and climb haphazardly towards the night sky. She stands moderately high and quietly elegant in the twilight. The small, rounded leaves a dark shade of life-affirming green, radiate a soft, soothing sensation to anyone blessed enough to bear witness to its mute rituals. For tonight is when the queen bestows upon us its thin, plate-like flowers that only bloom once a year. The white flower, with its bright orange stem is an unusual oxymoron to the darkness that surrounds the tree.
   Breathe in the sweet seductive fragrance that steer your emotions, like the captain of the ship. Standing here around her, you can't deny the aura she emits. The feel and  fragrance of the majestic night queen is a nocturnal wonder - something that will remain with you forever.

  by Srikant Kanchi

-------------------------------------------------

Healthy Pizza for Indiblogger

The Full Del Monte Healthy Pizza

Required:

4 pizza bases

2 onions

2 tomatoes

2 capsicums

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup grated cheese

Del Monte ketchup

Del Monte pasta sauce

Del Monte sliced olives, black or green

Del Monte extra virgin olive oil

---------------------------------------------

How to Assemble the Pizza

Turn the pizza base upside down, so that the flat part is on the top. Put a generous dollop of DelMonte pasta sauce, or ketchup, over the pizza base. Now spread a layer of onion rounds, interspersed with tomato slices, followed by capsicum rounds.

Now sprinkle grated cheese (or you can use sliced cheese) on the top. Now take the sliced olives and spread evenly over the pizza. Finish off with a shower of grated carrots. Press firmly.

Add a swirl of extra virgin olive oil for added flavour and health benefits.

Pop the pizza into the microwave for a minute. Alternatively you can cook it on a tawa or a non-stick pan.

Cut into slices with a pizza cutter or kitchen scissors.

If you love a little extra ketchup then you can dot the pizza with some more ketchup. Or put some ketchup in a katori and dip your pizza slice in it before eating it.

Enjoy your healthy pizza.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let's Write a Short Story - book review

A year ago Joe Bunting started a blog called 'The Write Practice.' His aim was to help writers to improve their craft. He's now come out with a book callled 'Let's write a Short Story.' The 140 page book seems slim but is packed with advice that should help aspiring writers. If you want just one book on writing then you should not just browse through this book but follow his advice and start writing..

It's easier to get into an Ivy League college than to become an established writer, says Bunting, giving statistics that seem quite formidable. But on the other hand there are a lot of online magazines and publications that look for material to publish. For those who have attempted writing novels that are incomplete he suggests turning them into short stories.

Creative Writing - what is it?

Still more - funny, yummy, green, desperate, flash

Here are a few contributions from the members of the  Writestuff Writing Club. They had to write a paragraph using the words funny, yummy, green, desperate, flash.

       Arunangshu Paul

        I was desperate to lose weight
        and sought the doc's advice.
        He made a diet chart for me,
        which had no mention of rice.
        Now I have only the greens,
        soups, salads and  funny sprouts.
        Yummy foods are far off dreams
        that only flash in my thoughts.
      
       
        Sushma Mehta Shah

        I am funny, and I am yummy,
        Yes everyone I am a mummy,
        My kids have a party and a bash,
        And they smile, when I say flash,
        They fill my life with green,blue,and red
        But after all the love, they still leave me
         .... desperate.
       
      Sunil Khadawalla

       Today I' m hungry
        It's funny how this yummy green palak soup beckons
        I m desperate to consume it in a flash.