Friday, February 20, 2015




FEBRUARY ROUND ROBIN

“If you have (or even if you don’t have) a bucket list, what top priority thing(s) do you want to accomplish?”

I’ve always had a bucket list.  It’s overflowing with ideas and I love the thought its there.  It's an idea bank, I can go to it, make withdrawals when I’m thinking ‘what next’?  I also feel good just knowing its there:  like a kid with a security blanket. 
As long as I have it, there’s no chance I’ll die of boredom.  Other things, for sure but boredom, never!

The first thing on the list is one I have no choice about.  It is to control my diabetes.  Meeting the daily challenges of testing, focusing on diet, exercise and rest, ensure I get a day pass to do what I would like to that day.  There are no exceptions to this routine, unless I want to have a ‘sick day’ or a couple.  Interestingly enough my experiences with diabetes are resulting in a cookbook to help others like myself.

The second thing on the list is completing my Dad’s memoirs.  He was in the British Army in the Second World War and fought in Burma, now Myanmar.  The journal keeping ways of the British rubbed off on him and his notes are imprinted in my memory.  I read them so often as a young adult.  The stories he shared of being a soldier, the war, India’s Independence, the painful partition of India and Pakistan and his transition into what became the Indian Army, were better than any book on the topic I could read.

The third thing on that list is my own memoirs.  Is it that time already?  Yes, it is. 
I have my own stories to share now of growing up in post Independence India and hopefully when others read these books my words will paint pictures of the world as I experienced it.

Last but not least is to find the right publisher for these books.
Know an editor interested in any/all the above projects?  I’d love an intro. 
In the meantime I’ll keep doing what I love best…dreaming and writing.


Rhobin, thanks for coming up with such a great Round Robin topic.
Now as I’m dying to see what the others have to say on the matter and gather a great deal more info along the way, lets check out this blog: http://dbator.blogspot.ca

I’m listing the rest of the participants too, so you can get a really good overview of bucket lists.






14 comments:

  1. I have my father's stories from his childhood and WWII. They are treasures. I read his account of Hickam Field on Pearl Harbor Day to my classes every December 7th.

    Keep up with your diabetes regime, and finish that cookbook!

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  2. Good luck on the memoirs. They both sound really interesting - and finding a publisher.

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  3. I think I'd love to read BOTH of those memoirs! Good luck, Geeta!

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  4. Hi Geeta, Interesting things on your list. I'm just back from a month in India and I do hope you can get your dad's memoir published. anne stenhouse

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  5. Interesting that India features again. There is a new BBC TV series called Indian Summers, hope it plays on PBS or the Canadian BBC channel. It looked good. And yes, hearing history first hand has much more meaning than reading it in a book.

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  6. Geeta, please write your father's story. Your family is so interesting and a layered with history and timely lessons. Finish your novel, and trust, that your publisher will be there. . .waiting.

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  7. My late father lived in Glasgow as a young teenager, when the bombs were being dropped to destroy the ship-building yards. He told me stories that were terrible, but riveting. He had a way of making history "come alive", and his story of the building of Hadrian's Wall always made me laugh at his delivery.

    My only sibling is a brother who has type 1 Diabetes, and my oldest son has had it since he was a child, and he's now in his mid-twenties. I like to tell him about people who've been dealing with it so much longer than him, especially when they're matter-of-fact about it. We tried to teach him that it was only a small part of who he is, but a part he needs to be responsible about. So far he's doing great! Sounds like you are also.

    Yes, I'd be interested in that cookbook. The recipes in the American Diabetes magazine are mostly dry and tasteless. My family never liked them. I'm always looking out for new ways to cook healthy meals.

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  8. Thanks Rhobin...just finished a four week class on managing diabetes, and I'm very glad I took it. So many things have changed since my first class 13 years ago. As for the cookbook, it's become like a daily diary and helps me stay on track!
    Geeta

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  9. Thanks Beverly. Yes, I keep plugging along and I know in my heart that when its done I'll find the right person to publish it.
    Geeta

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  10. Thanks Diane. Your words make me feel good about what I'm doing.

    Geeta

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  11. Anne thanks for stopping by. I would love to read your account about your trip to India.

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  12. Vicky thanks for telling me about Indian Summers. Hope it comes out on PBS. My Dad's stories are so real, its a challenge to choose the best way to write them.

    Geeta

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  13. Connie, thanks for the kind words. That's exactly how I feel about my Dad's memoirs...that things happen in their own good time.

    Geeta

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  14. Fiona, thanks for your comments.
    Parents who share stories with their children are handing history down. You and I and all those who mention hearing stories like these are lucky.
    Type 1 diabetes is really challenging but, as you say, can be managed.
    As for the recipes, I'm setting up a blog so will let you know about it as soon as its done. I'm hoping to post 5 recipes a week, as all my leisure time seems to be spent thinking up better ways to manage my diabetes!
    Geeta

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