A light in the darkness

This poem is inspired by Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem " How do I love thee? " Since it is a sonnet, I will write it in the same form. I will borrow the first line only. I tried to understand what makes a person feel loved. I took insights from various posts and Gary Chapman's book " Five Love Languages. " How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First I thought, I will do all as you say and I saw myself like the fading rays so I thought to gift you a starry day but still you forgot out bondage which made me feel used up still, I gathered courage and filled my admiration cup only to discover missing passion.  I thought togetherness was less but that wasn't your mission. when I felt you in me and caressed your need as mine that I found the loving bliss of thee. This post is a part of  Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025

 This composition is inspired by Langston Hughes's poem " Dreams. " I have not read his poems much but this one made me a fan of him. Hold fast to dreams where life begins beyond realms experimenting with themes until something comes out like a beam. Hold fast to dreams where creativity plays the mime giving birth to new rhyme which is way ahead of time. Hold fast to dreams where our life beams overflowing with streams of love, joy, & happy themes. ©water2025 This post is a part of  Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025

For this half marathon, I want to compose a few poems with a twist. I will take the first line of each stanza of the poems and compose a different version of the poem.  The first post is inspired by the poem " The Road Not Taken " by Robert Frost. This is one of my best poems. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, where will I find my daily food? Is it okay to travel this way or should I follow the guiding ray? My heart is sinking as the dilemma is building. Time is flying and my destiny is calling. Then took the other, as just as fair, because I knew within my layers that my destiny is right here nothing to fear just adhere to what's there beyond the visual gear into the vicinity unclear.  And both that morning equally lay opening their arms and calling me their way. How can I refuse one way to relish the pleasure of the other way? The dilemma is devouring but the time is determining and I choose one over another. I shall be telling this with a sigh that fathoming uncerta...

  Image by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay Today, I happened to read a post on Indian Express that touched my heart most. I think I should tag our team member Leha Diwakar, who became my strength and inspiration.  https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/harinder-dhaliwal-paraplegic-surrey-against-all-odds-10152700/ When I read about this person's story, a new energy swept in. You know, life may give you a lot of challenges; what matters most is how you handle them. I was so happy to see that he accepted the challenge. Life made its way on its own because this person never gave up. I also liked the way both disabled people have set up the example of a life in togetherness. This move of the duo teaches a lot in various aspects of life. Some of my lessons learned from their story, I will share here: a) When life gives you a challenge, accept it: We all have our dreams and aspirations. Many times, these all do not happen the way we want. This is the time when we get frustrated and ...

 I still remember this meal. It always made me content. On my nights off I would sleep like a log and then get up at 12 noon and rush to Kondhwa Road to the South Indian Restaurant. Pack the brown rice, and prawn curry or fish curry. The hot steamed rice with prawn curry ah! So yummy. Prawn curry Kerala style. Ingredients Prawns—500 grams Crushed garlic—1 teaspoon Crushed ginger—1 teaspoon Turmeric—2 teaspoons Coconut oil—2 tablespoons Curry leaves Mustard seeds—1 teaspoon Cumin seeds—1 teaspoon Green chillies Onion—1 chopped Kashmiri chili—1 teaspoon Coconut milk—300 ml Kokum rinds—2 Salt to taste Method 1. Soak kokum in hot water for 15 minutes.  2. Marinate cleaned and deveined prawns with salt, turmeric, and chili powder.  3. Heat the pan and sauté mustard and cumin seeds.  4. Add onions and fry till translucent.  5. Add Kashmiri chili and roast for a while.  6. Add prawn and kokum water.  7. Prawn is cooked when it curls and turns red. ' 8. Add co...

On our side, this plastic chutney is so famous. It is present in every marriage and party. I have eaten this every time but never tried it ever. This Sunday I tried.  Ingredients Raw papaya—200 grams Jaggery—300 grams Elaichi—1 Cashews—2-4 lemon—1/2 milk—1 teaspoon Method 1. Wash and peel off raw papaya 2. Grate it.  3. In another frying pan, put a spoonful of ghee and fry the cashews.  3. In a frying pan, put the jaggery and a cup of water. Keep stirring until the jaggery dissolves. Put a spoonful of milk and pull off the dirt.  4. Put the grated papaya into the pan, cover, and cook until it gets thick. 5. Squeeze the lemon and stir well. Switch off the flame.  5. Garnish with fried cashews.  Relish this dish. I am sure you will enjoy it.  #BlogchatterFoodFest2025

Moving out of the house remains the biggest dream of everyone. Mine was the same. Studying in a college was quite good. I hardly remember missing my family. Getting a job was icing on top. Now life seemed settled. This was the moment when I felt relaxed and content. Then I started thinking about what to do next. My mother is a good cook. I always longed to cook like her, both creatively and tastily.      In my school days, I saw my friends cooking tasty dishes in sixth class, and I was nowhere. I also wanted to cook good food like my mother and like my friends.      I still remember the first dish I prepared. It was "aloo bhuji." I prepared three or four large potatoes. My potatoes were getting sticky to my kadhai, but still they were not cooked well. I put water on it, and it started sticking more. I have used more turmeric also so that I get a good yellow color. I also used more cumin powder.      My family members said it was okay, and whe...