Reena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 46

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 46

Prompt

 

When I was young

I thought the world will change

the riots will stop

with education

with development 

scientific reasoning

people will become tolerant

more understanding

compassionate

to other religions

there will be liberty to 

to choose partners

Politicians will become more 

honest, loyal to their country and countrymen

less selfish

less arrogant

women will be treated equally

there will be no poverty

…

we have become more fashionable

more techno-savvy

but you can’t change the mentality

of some

who will do anything to get power in their hands

they will go to any extent 

…

 

Of course, there is a major difference

in attitude

we killed with the stones then

now we kill with the sophisticated weapons.

A Month of Mini Writing Challenges 2017

A Month of Mini Writing Challenges 2017

1. Write a poem about boundaries or a boundary.  Any length.

1. 

google images

 

 in the name of

tradition

culture

and religion

they make

boundaries of

hatred

culture

tradition

religion

color

caste and creed

for two lovers

and kill mindlessly

in the name of honor killing

now

we are

free from restrictions

shackles

no one can part us now

no one can put label

or cover us anymore

we are free from flesh

and from the boundaries it creates

we are immortal

eternal lovers

Saint Kabir

Friday Fictioneers– Hosted by Rochelle Wisoff.

( My story is actually not fiction story but i take this prompt as an opportunity to write about my mother and my favorite poet.)

PHOTO PROMPT © Shaktiki Sharma Thanks Shaktiki for this prompt, it reminded me of my childhood.

SAINT KABIR

Mother used to tell me stories of saints  while grinding spices and grains in the afternoon. My favorite was Saint Kabir’s.

She will sing his couplets and will explain its meaning.

She told me how Kabir was threatened by both Muslims and Hindus for criticizing them for their wrong interpretation of their religion.

She told me how that after his death Hindus and Muslims both went to claim his body but found nothing except some flowers instead of his body.

She explained that it is symbolic. Saints are above religion and caste. They are like flowers whose fragrance we should appreciate.

 

—————————————————————————

 

There are numerous couplets/words of wisdom by Kabir, I remember two couplets prominently-

 

Pahan pooje hari mile, to mein poojo pahar

Taate ye chaki bhali peece khaye sansar.

(If one can meet God by worshiping stone then I’ll worship mountain. Grinding stone is better than that, at least world can grind grains and eat.)

Kankar, pathar jod ke Maszid layi chunay

Ta chade mulla bang de, kya bahara hua khuday

( With stones they build Maszid and shout his name from the roof top as if God has become deaf.)

———————————————————————

If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
then who is there to know what happens without?
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.

~ Kabir Translated by Rabindranath Tagore.

The Daily Post- Divide

THEDAILYPOSTMar 2, 2016

DAILY PROMPT– Divide

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt

Religions were supposed to make man loving, caring, understanding, compatible, harmonious as all religions teach and preach peace, love, and brotherhood. Prayers are supposed to make man humble, altruistic but it has divided them. Filled them with a superiority complex. Everyone thinks that their religion is supreme, what their belief is, is the best in the world. People are ready to kill each other in the name of religion and to impose their supremacy on others by forceful conversion.

More atrocities have been committed in the name of religion than for any other reason.

pamelaBeurman

Actually, religions don’t divide us. It’s the followers who divide humanity for their selfish reasons, for their greed for power and money. They take advantage of people’s ignorance and fear of God.

divide and rule you fools

said the power-hungry politicians, religious heads to their followers

if the common men unite they will destroy us

divide them in the name of caste, color, and creed

divide them in the name of religion

divide them in the name of gender

divide them in the name of God

take advantage of their ignorance, their fear, their selfishness

their greed, their petty fights their lust

their greed for power and money

we can’t have the reign in our hands

till they are divided

Daily Prompt- For Posterity

Daily Prompt- For Posterity– Your blog just became a viral sensation. What’s the one post you’d like new readers to see and remember you by? Write that post.

Wow! That’s good news. I would like my new readers to read and remember me by the following post.

PLEA OF A CHILD

I am born innocent, full of love and peace.

I am born neither Hindu, Muslim, Christian nor Sikh, Jain or Buddhist.

You brand me with a label of religion without me knowing what religion is.

Instead of teaching me love, friendship, compassion, and compatibility, you teach me to hate people of other religions.

You teach me to hate people of other religions, ideologies, color, caste, and creed.

I request all the teachers, parents, and elder people, please stop teaching me anything.

There will be differences between us as no two people can think alike but we will manage.

We will play, fight, and makeup if we are not taught to carry on fights on the basis of ego and arrogance.

If you stop fighting with each other and start living in peace and harmony we will automatically learn that.

If you will give respect to people of other religions, caste, and creed, you will not have to bother with teaching me anything as we children are an incarnation of love and peace.

The Child-Angel

They clamour and fight, they doubt and despair, they know no end
to their wrangling.
Let your life come amongst them like a flame of light, my
child, unflickering and pure, and delight them into silence.
They are cruel in their greed and their envy, their words are like
hidden knives thirsting for blood.
Go and stand amidst their scowling hearts, my child, and let
your gentle eyes fall upon them like the forgiving peace of the
evening over the strife of the day.
Let them see your face, my child, and thus know the meaning
of all things; let them love you and thus love each other.
Come and take your seat in the bosom of the limitless, my
child. At sunrise open and raise your heart like a blossoming
flower, and at sunset bend your head and in silence complete the
worship of the day.

‘Rabindranath Tagore’

Five Sentence Fiction – Fenced

Five Sentence Fiction – Fenced

Our houses had a common wall, a very big veranda covering both the houses without any wall to bar us from going to each other’s house whenever we like.

For years our different religions were not an obstacle in our close friendship and life was great fun celebrating all festivals together, going to market, school, and picnic together.

Who could have thought that a little dispute between two communities, which did not even concern us, will give way to a riot and mar our very old friendship?

A fence was raised overnight between our veranda to stop us, children, from going to each other’s house.

Do elder’s ever think about how do we children feel when religions stand as a barrier between our friendship, how helpless, miserable we feel?

 

Monthly Peace Challenge: Peace Child/ PLEA OF A CHILD

https://www.fuzia.com/blog/details/how-to-best-utilize-fuzia

Monthly Peace Challenge: Peace Child–

 PLEA OF A CHILD

I am born innocent, full of love and peace.

I am born neither Hindu, Muslim, Christian nor Sikh, Jain or Buddhist.

You brand me with a label of religion without me knowing what religion is.

Instead of teaching me love, friendship, compassion, and compatibility, 

You teach me to hate people of other religion, ideology, culture, color, caste, and creed.

I request all the teachers, parents, and elder person, please stop teaching me anything.

There will be differences between us as no two people can think alike but we will manage.

We will play, fight, and makeup if we are not taught to carry on fights on the basis of ego and arrogance.

If you stop fighting with each other and start living in peace and harmony we will automatically learn that.

If you will give respect to people of other religions, caste, and creed, you will not have to bother with teaching me anything as we children are an incarnation of love and peace.

~Indira

*******************************************************************************************************************

The Child-Angel

They clamor and fight, they doubt and despair, they know no end
to their wrangling.

Let your life come amongst them like a flame of light,

my child,

unflickering and pure,

and delight them into silence.
They are cruel in their greed and their envy,

their words are like
hidden knives thirsting for blood.

Go and stand amidst their scowling hearts, my child, and let
your gentle eyes fall upon them like the forgiving peace of the
evening over the strife of the day.

Let them see your face, my child, and thus know the meaning
of all things; let them love you and thus love each other.

Come and take your seat in the bosom of the limitless, my
child.

At sunrise open and raise your heart like a blossoming
flower, and at sunset bend your head and in silence complete the
worship of the day.

Rabindranath Tagore

B4Peace- A Party For Peace.

B4Peace- So this months challenge is to plan a party that will ripple peace to the world-Kozo

A Party For Peace.

I’m not a party person so the very idea of party  scares me, moreover, I never had a chance to organize a very big party as peace lovers are much more in numbers compared to those who are destroyer of peace. I’ve met thousands of people who wants peace in this world. All religions preach love, compassion and peace so how come there is so much unrest, terrorism, violence, wars in this world. How come handful of people in their greed of money and power can teach and spread so much hatred amongst people in the name of color, caste, creed and religion and if it can be taught so definitely love also can be taught.

I’ll request my wonderful friends Kozo, Archita and RaraSaur to help me organize the party and I’m sure these kind souls will help me.

All peace lovers are welcome to my place  with their great ideas of how to teach love and compassion and remove hatred from people’s mind. Since this is the party of peace lovers so there is going to be a lot of fun, music and food to suit everyone’s taste.  In the end we all will sing a song,

‘One Song’

of love, compassion , compatibility and peace.

 

 ‘One Song’- ‘Rumi’

Every war and every conflict between human beings
has happened because of some disagreement about names.

It is such an unnecessary foolishness,
because just beyond the arguing
there is a long table of companionship
set and waiting for us to sit down.

What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,
many jugs being poured into a huge basin.
All religions, all this singing, one song.
The differences are just illusion and vanity.
Sunlight looks a little different on this wall
than it does on that wall
and a lot different on this other one,
but it is still one light.

We have borrowed these clothes,
these time-and-space personalities,
from a light, and when we praise,
we are pouring them back in.

Link for some wonderful posts-

1- Party Time: Rara Saur

2- Monthly peace Challenge; KOZO

3- Robert Jones

Prompts for the Promptless – Ep. 11 – Remake!

Prompts for the Promptless – Ep. 11 – Remake!

 Remake/ Change

If I have the power to remake

I’ll change everything which is fake

The attitude of people towards life

towards the environment, poverty, religion

and their consumption of nature’s gifts

without sharing equally,

which will lessen their strife.

Then I’ll remake the nature of law about death

Let death come with all its novelty

to carry on nature’s law

but

Let old age keep its

innocence, fearlessness, and cheer

like a child

it will make death less fearful and

make its impact mild.

Aspiration

There comes a stage or rather age in life

Where aspiration, expectations, and needs

All merge into each other and you aspire,

Expect and need a world,

Without hunger, poverty, and sickness

A world

Without boundaries, discrimination, and terrorism

A world full of

Love, compassion,  and friendship

A world where religion is compatibility and respect for each other

A religion that embraces everyone with an open heart.

 Indira