Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Quick tales for charity

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If I were a singer, I'd have raised money using my voice. If I were a painter...okay, you get the idea.

The point is, my rather negligible talent lies in telling stories and they seem to've found an audience in you. And I want you to pay for it.

Wait! Don't run! It's to raise money for projectwhy.

Here's what I thought I'd do. Give me three random words and I'll write you a quick tale using those words. If you're happy with it, you send a nice little amount to projectwhy based on what you think the story is worth. You can send them a cheque anyway. But this way, it's more fun.

Come on, let's write a story with a happy ending.

Please send your 3 words to ammania@gmail.com

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Vel Dhingaravel's words 'a happy ending'

She was determined to write a story with a happy ending. She opened her pen, smoothed out a paper and stained it with her words. In her story, a little boy runs away from home only to be kidnapped, maimed and sold to a rich Arab sheikh who used him to race camels. Where's the happy ending, you ask. Well, the Sheikh was a very happy man when the little boy won the race.

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Balakrishnan's words 'spirituality, agnosticism, happiness'
.
"And what do your suitcases look like?" asked the airline officer.
"One's white and the other a little grey. They're marked...er...'spirituality'and 'agnosticism' ", she replied.
He looked up to see if she was joking.
"Sorry about the mix up", said the officer with no hint of apology,"give us your address and we'll trace your suitcases as soon as we can."
As she left the airport, minus her baggage, she felt strangely light. An odd kind of happiness. It must be the coffee, she told herself.
.
*
The ramblings of a shoe fiend's words 'Serendipity, banana, rather'

‘Give me 3 random words and I’ll tell you a story using them.’
‘Okay, how about serendipity, rather and…’ she looked around and added curiously ‘banana’.
‘Alright. There was this guy called Serendipity. His parents named him so to remind themselves of the happy accident that led to his conception. One day he was walking down the road when he slipped on a banana skin and was rushed to the hospital with a broken ankle. That’s where he met and fell in love with a nurse and later married her. When they had a baby, Serendipity remembered not to call his child banana.’
‘That’s such a bad story’
‘I agree’, said the storyteller, ‘but what would you rather be doing? Going out for a walk?’
It would be 3 hours and 18 really bad stories before the friends would be rescued from their lift.

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Sridharandv's words 'dahl in kerala'
.
"And finally, stir the karela into your dal," said the chef as he added fried pieces of bitter gourd to the simmering pot of lentils.
'Add kerala in dahl' she wrote in her notebook. Spelling was never her strong point.
.
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Daniella Robertson-Glenn's words 'snagged, lithe, cloudy'
.
What is...
snagged - caught while snogging
lithe - as in 'pleath sith while the lamp is lithe'
cloudy - a rowdy clown
.
*
Shyam's words 'printer, itch, chocolate'
.
He was a printer
She was a chocolatiere
He proof read
She scooped and stirred
His words were nutty brown
Her chocolates were inky black
It was a perfect match
One itched, the other scratched.
.
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The last blogger's words 'a little faith'
.
Small boat sails
In a sea of despair
A little faith
.
(Gosh! How I love sounding pseudo-deep, intellectual and abstract ;))

19 comments:

Ideamani said...

Nice idea ! Reminds me a scene for the movie "Before Sunrise" where a poet does the same kind of thing for Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

Anonymous said...

Ammani..that was a rather rude thing to write..someone has asked U to write a story with a happy ending or with the words like that.. Why not write something +ve when you start for a noble cause.. U always dont have to be different to get noticed. Normal stories with happy endings are always appreciated by people.. Rather bad one coming from you...

I'm waiting to see if U'll refrain from deleting it ;-)

Ideamani said...

Renu, I requested the story and I loved it ! I think Ammani has her characteristic style and I certainly didnt want her to change that for me ...

Phoenix said...

I dont see a happy ending in the story...But I like your thinking in thinking different and helping things for a nobel cause...I appreciate your efforts for the same ...

Robert said...

I don't wish to seem too course, but I thought the story was awesome... maybe I'm too young at a unimpressive 22 to be reading these, you know, without any necessary life experience, but I understand english... so far.
And I do believe she said "Give me three random words and I'll write you a quick tale using those words."
She fufilled her promise.
Admirably.

kaaju katli said...

Terrific idea, ammani. Expect mine soon.

Anonymous said...

Oh, now THIS is cynicism! :)

RT said...

Hi Ammani,
Your stories are awesome. Inspired by it, I have woven a short story. Not as short as yours but short enough :-)
Do read it at leisure.

Harish said...

LOL@ the second story!

Bloody cheeky!! :)

kaaju katli said...

Fabulous job! Loved the kerala one :-)
*Hugs*

Anonymous said...

Ammani, dont you dare delete anything no matter who says what! :)

The "cynical" comment was for the first QT - and I'll add "terrific" for the kerala/karela one :) Waiting to see what mine brings...

Anonymous said...

Shyam - When I said removing it.. I meant the comment and not the post..

Anonymous said...

Ammani - can I have another go? :) I love my QT!

Renu - hey, I know you meant the comment, not the post. I was actually referring to Ammani's QT 53 which she deleted before I'd read it :( I wouldnt want that happening twice.

Anonymous said...

Renu, Sad that you don't see sarcasm in the tale on the camel race.
Guess if you had seen/read about the kids in camel races.. the wealthy sheiks clapping with their bejewelled hands.. you would catch the sarcasm.

If you are looking for a happy ending...watch a dog's tail.

NS said...

Ammani,
These stories that you write with 3 given words dont seem as spontaneous and free flowing as your normal ones... I think 3 words kinda restrict ur creativity and hence the stories seem forced...

But i loved the printer and chocolate one.. that was cute:)

Anonymous said...

the printer and chocolate poem was gorgeous. deep brown and smooth.

thanks, i loved my "snagged and cloudy" snippet

Eroteme said...

hahahahahaha :-)) I liked this. Something like what we did while kids. I love it! :-)

Meera said...

Loved the one on - 'spirituality, agnosticism, happiness'... Quite hard-hitting I must say. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

hi ammani..your effort both at story writing and that for the cause is totally admirable...i wish i had your talent...you are doing great work...im very happy i stumbled on to this site...