|
|
|
|
Tales For You And Me. Of You And Me. A mini-epic poem in free verse. |
|
|
Disclaimer: The characters are fictional. Any resemblance to any person(s), dead or alive, is purely coincidental. The piece is a work of fiction and is the writer’s creation. |
|
|
Magic For Maya |
|
|
The coin rattles across the street, |
|
|
It teeters at Maya’s feet, |
|
|
as though by magic! |
|
|
It was enough |
|
|
for a cup of tea. |
|
|
The tea-seller is unhappy. |
|
|
His inventory is stale. |
|
|
He throws in a cup-cake! |
|
|
Gratis! For free! |
|
|
The tea is fine |
|
|
Better than most times. |
|
|
And the cup-cake is saccharine! |
|
|
Maya’s sweet tooth is sated by it. |
|
|
“Low-calorie tea! |
|
|
How high society!” she thinks. |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No Gym, Jim! |
|
|
Jim’s steps are heavy, |
|
|
Its been a weary day! |
|
|
His boss was at his stomping best! |
|
|
His laughing child yanks the door open. |
|
|
“The fees are due”, his wife tells Jim, |
|
|
He has just enough, |
|
|
For the fees. |
|
|
Not for the new shoes he needs! |
|
|
He’ll make do! |
|
|
Jim’s now walks every evening, |
|
|
From the station to home. |
|
|
The exercise does him good! |
|
|
Saves on doctor’s bills! |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Burnt Ravi Is Blown! |
|
|
Its the little, tiny things, |
|
|
That Ravi’s so grateful for! |
|
|
The small joys! |
|
|
He’s burnt the big notes on the market! |
|
|
Its his third trip to the cobbler! |
|
|
And the same mocassins to be repaired! |
|
|
Style is temporary! |
|
|
Class is permanent! |
|
|
He consoles himself! |
|
|
He’s been skimping and saving, |
|
|
To buy that snazzy watch! |
|
|
The carburetor blows! |
|
|
He’ll buy the watch next year! |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
Tim & May Do! |
|
|
“It’s just not on the cards,” Tim says. |
|
|
“The wedding’s off! |
|
|
But we can still live on love and fresh air”, |
|
|
with a glint in his eye. |
|
|
May replies, “Yes, we can forget about saving” |
|
|
“And have a little, nay, loads of fun |
|
|
Its the now and here that counts.” |
|
|
Its now 3 months, |
|
|
Since Tim last had a tete-a-tete with his wife,May. |
|
|
She’s working the night-shift; |
|
|
So all’s well that ends well, is it? |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
Shyam Reminisces! |
|
|
Shyam’s back aches! |
|
|
It’s all those extra home-deliveries! |
|
|
The customers and their orders have shrunk. |
|
|
But not the large grocery deliveries. |
|
|
But the cart and Shyam survive! |
|
|
Shyam’s cash ‘n’ carry is pushed |
|
|
a bit farther every day. |
|
|
Fresh customers for fresh vegetables |
|
|
Can still be found. |
|
|
Shyam reminisces about being the milkman. |
|
|
He was known to all; |
|
|
He had a certain standing. |
|
|
In this age of tetra-paks, |
|
|
His job was also well-packed. |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
Chloe Wishes! |
|
|
Chloe wishes she had the time. |
|
|
She’s working multiple jobs |
|
|
Her lad can still afford private tuition! |
|
|
From working to cooking to working, |
|
|
Just no time for sleeping; |
|
|
What’s the crowded seat on the train for, anyway? |
|
|
Chloe hears her neighbor yell “Wake up!” |
|
|
“The station’s here. |
|
|
Get off or you’ll be going back home”. |
|
|
Chloe wishes she were! |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
Sam’s Sessions! |
|
|
Sam and his pupil are busy; |
|
|
It’s his student’s third session; |
|
|
Business has been slow; |
|
|
He usually has 5 – 6 students at a time. |
|
|
“So what’s the world come to? |
|
|
There was a time when the Queen’s English opened all doors! |
|
|
Now I can barely sight a porthole; |
|
|
And my students can’t either, it seems!” |
|
|
Yes, Sam was a Better English teacher! |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
Satish’s Gold! |
|
|
Satish is very, very busy! |
|
|
Work has piled up like crazy! |
|
|
It’s suddenly apparent |
|
|
That the cobbler is |
|
|
worth his weight in gold! |
|
|
And doesn’t Satish realize it! |
|
|
With all the savings he’s accumulated, |
|
|
He can afford and is buying a Nano! |
|
|
It is the best of times! |
|
|
|
|
|
And so it is, Stories of men and women Their lives, their dreams, their heart-aches We live, We eat, We sleep, We die! We love! Oh! We live to love! And so it is, that the best Is yet to come! And so it is, The best times are here! The best times are now! And ,we dream! Oh! How we dream! We dream to love, of love, of peace, of joy! For time is what we make it! Life is what we make it! Our lives are our time! Make the best of them! Shalom! The slide-show is available at http://www.slideshare.net/fernal73/for-all-the-times |
|
Tag Archives: Mumbai ToastMasters
![ForAllTheTimesProject6_html_m65bf59a[1]](https://linusfernandes.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/forallthetimesproject6_html_m65bf59a2.gif "ForAllTheTimesProject6_html_m65bf59a[1]")
Table Topics – Part 2
Table Topics are sometimes synchronized with the Theme/Topic of the Day.
The following is the text of a table topics session where the Theme of the Day was Nostalgia. I did not have too much time to fine tune these Table Topics. And most of them are quite long-winded. It is recommended that the topics be kept short and pithy!
Nostalgia is an ice cream. Your either have it before it melts or freeze it away for another day. Table topics are like ice cream . You have just 1 – 2: 30 minutes to make a point. Anything less than a minute and the audience feels short-changed. More than 2:30 minutes and they will feel overly full! Today’s table topics are designed to evoke nostalgia that is to remind you of the good old days when things were so much simpler. We sometimes forget that it was we who were so much simpler and the choices we made were simpler too. We were younger and less burdened. Maybe this is a call to restore simplicity in our lives. Life is not complicated; we are.
I would like to now call upon our first table topic participant:
Our first table topic participant is ________________
and his topic is ______________________________________________
|
Yahoo! Chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe! Don’t you love those 70’s Hindi movies? Or why not? |
|
Does nostalgia still have you asking for a Thums Up? Not a coke or pepsi, but Thums Up? |
|
Who in heaven is Rajesh Khanna? |
|
From Johnnie Walker to Johnny Lever, whither our Hindi film comedians? |
|
Nostalgic about comics , who was your favorite comic book character? |
|
Nostalgic about villains turned heroes, Much before shah rukh, there was Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha. Whom do you prefer and why? |
|
In this age of tetra pak milk, where is the milkman? And whatever happened to your milk-card? |
|
From walkmans to ipods, are you still a moving jukebox? |
|
Doordarshan and All India Radio. Does that give you a warm feeling or goose pimples? |
|
Test cricket to one day to T20, who was your favorite childhood or old time cricketer and why? |
|
From fancy to flight, do India’s open skies evoke nostalgia for when it was just the Maharajah and Indian Airlines and air travel was a luxury? |
|
In these days of shopping malls and choice and more choice, do you feel that less is more and yearn for the days of yore? |
|
The more things change, the more they remain the same. So what hasn’t changed for you? |
Rubber Tyres --> Smooth Rides 