The bridge to the other side !!

Take me to the other side …where there is that missing romance,passion,love !! Where there is respect and eternal bliss ….take me to that land of ethereal happiness.

“If I had but an hour of love,
If that be all it’s given me.
An hour of love; upon this earth,
I would give my love to thee.”

The larger machine !!

We Live in our own ecosystem and then again we are intricately connected to the larger machine out there, the larger ecosystem !! As we think of us, our parents, our relatives, our children-born or yet to be born…of our own good and bad, we forget about the world outside. We forget to worry about the larger ecosystem which sustains us and which we belong to. We have built a nice interconnected world of our own with friends and foes , with blood and non-blood relations around us. We are constantly concerned for our well-being and to be socially accepted, to sustain this network that we have built. But in this process, are we sustainably managing our relationship with the larger machine ? Just as everything we do has an impact on our relationship with others, our actions has irreversible impacts on our world, the results of which we are already experiencing in our day to day life..When I came to know of the drought certain parts of my country has experienced last summer, when I learnt a couple of days back that the summer is already showing it’s wrath in India, I wondered…Along with feeling miserable for my near and dear ones, who have to go out everyday, without ACs in their cars, shop in stores that don’t have ACs and just live this daily life in this heat wave, I wondered - Is this larger machine showing it’s anger in this way, like someone close, someone who have been denied our love and neglected for long ? We humans, in the process of being perfect socially and otherwise, lost all connections with one of our important relatives. Now, we are to suffer the outcome …Is it too late for salvation ? Is it too late to acknowledge mea maxima culpa ??

Bloom and grow ...

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…where the rhododendrons and azaleas are in bloom…I am ever so haunted by this dream during this time of the year. It’s spring, time for the cherry blossoms to open up in full vigour. The eucalyptus, acacia, magnolia, jacaranda and myriads of other spring flowering trees are showing off their colors..I can see the bluebonnets dancing in the gentle wind , when I close my eyes. The Caribbean trumpet tree on the roadside are abound in intense yellow …Our childhood neighbour had one, which marked the advent of holi for us. My mind is always in a state of changing hues, and in full-blown spring during dusk hours..The world around me presents itself in so many shades during that time of the day, it’s only silly to blame my sappy mind !! I stare at the dark waters at my side of the lake and wonder at the golden magic created by the setting sun on the other side of the bank……

The Departure

The boat left, too soon, too early and I couldn’t stop it. The flower shriveled up before I could stop it …The sun set and I couldn’t save the auburn shades for myself. So many things happen in life which we can’t stop or save for later, as life itself. The moments lost are lost forever, the steps we tread today are difficult to be retraced, the smiles and laughters of today stay only in memory boxes of our minds. The seasons change and the cycle of life goes on. Twilight leads the way for the sensuous dusk…and we hope for a brighter tomorrow. We know another day will arrive and try to erase thoughts of yesterday’s apprehensions …But every departure doesn’t coincide with amelioration !! How do we cope with such departures ? How do we get over those departures that are too soon or however natural, are too difficult to bear ?

Revelation !!

We are silk, we are coarse..Sometimes fire, sometimes ice..Storm now, serenity after.We can destroy, we can create. Strong and kind but never weak…We are the fairer sex- We are the women of this world …….

The other road .....

Let me walk down that overgrown sedgy road …and find out for myself if that’s the one for me. Let me have a brush with any prelude to possible mischances that might follow..

Let me ascertain there will be flowers and bees apart from occasional sharp-bladed grasses and thorns along my way….If only life could have been like this !! If only we could have walked down a road less taken, find out if that’s going to produce a significant divergence from the future one has sketched in their minds and retraced our course.

Burnt to refine !!

Smell of burnt sugar ...Awesome!! And the taste ? No words- I always make an extra effort to finish off the last syrupy delight from the dripping sides or the puddle around/below of my caramel pudding …The slightly crackling sound of the burnt crust on the top of a perfectly made crème brulee makes me so happy !! Doesn’t it signify that something which is good by itself, becomes even better, luxurious and luscious…after going through a trying spell ..and proves to reach a state of overall refinement ?!

HOPE…

Is food,water and oxygen more important than Hope for survival ? When the fittest wants to survive, what does he look for more?

Isn’t Hope all we can ever do- hope for the good, hope for the best, hope for the better. Hope that things won’t fall apart, hope that us will always be “ us “ and not “I & you“. Hope for a sunny day after periods of rain, hope for rain after periods of scorching sun….

But what happens when there’s no room to hope- when it’s inconceivable? When a person knows his inescapable future…and there is no desiring for otherwise !!

Can a person,who has been denied of the light of this world, hope that someday he’ll know what the different colors look like? How does he survive each day or does he still hold on to futile hope, only to survive?

What was the significance of the word “ HOPE” for Anne Frank and other innocent victims of the Holocaust ? Did they hope of a better tomorrow when they will no longer be branded as sub-humans? Or did they run out of it ?

CARPE DIEM

Enjoy the present…seize the day….That’s what these pictures convey to me. Like the transient bliss that a twilight brings, like the ephemeral beauty of wild flowers in bloom which lasts only for a season….life is short as well - So, why not make it sweet !! Embrace life- life doesn’t need to be long, it needs to be full….
Take a road trip down those rolling valleys today, to visualize the blazing yellow fields of wild mustard in full bloom- who knows, there might be a storm tonight and the plump flowers may slump off tomorrow!! 'Cause if it’s spring today, it’s summer tomorrow….

Food for thought !!

Being a gourmet and a passionate home-cook, I came across this sensual picture while browsing through the dining section of one my favorite newspapers !! The picture itself made me hungry with passion, urging me to explore the depths of the culinary world even more, to make myself better with each passing day, to extend my boundaries, breaking all the limitations which might have been set upon me, or created by me through various convictions !! A simple snapshot of an elegant creation, freezes me so….plies me with the food for a million thoughts, not only to cook better, but also to delve deeper into the romanticism, associated with the creation of anything, which is beautiful to all the senses.