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Life

A piece of cake

I have read that how you eat a slice of cake shows how much discipline you have, whether you start with the icing and leave the rest or eat it slowly savouring its delight. Some eat the icing first, those who like the showy life and leave the rest behind while some eat it slowly deliberately enjoying it fully in a Zen Buddhist fashion, the best and the worst in the same fashion. Might appear like a crude philosophy of life but these are some thoughts on baking red velvet cakes for the last two days. 

Like most of the Malayali public, I met the red velvet cake through the popular Malayalam movie Premam. In the movie, the hero wins the heart of the girl he marries by introducing this new variety to her. There were a few set of things that the films made into fashion- pimples, long unmanageable curls, bragging ala the professori mode, the narrative of having more than love affairs or failures or the song Malare,  it is this variety of cake that became so popular thanks to the film. 

When I went for attending the cake baking class, I found this variety to be tedious owing to the addition of food colour, which is cochineal red. Now, almost an year later and many other experiments later especially on Valentine's day for colleagues (who unfortunately are guinea pigs and foodies) I thought the time for the Red Velvet Cake has come. The result is an amazing epiphany into the long journey of cake-baking, battling fears about succeeding and finally feeling that thrill which comes on watching the tiny hands fighting to finish off my red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. What appears as a piece of cake is in fact a long journey in the learning curve though!

Editing

This blog has been temporarily withdrawn for rewriting and editing purposes. Thank you for supporting it for the last 9 years. @maria joy

Our day of love

 When the morning light drained through the windows she opened her eyes. Slowly she became conscious of everything around her. Last night, she had fallen asleep crying. Now her heart was empty but soon thoughts of reasoning and doubt would cloud it again. It was a day she had dreaded all this time. Throughout all the happy days the shadow of this inevitable day was on her happiness, on their happiness.

Back from bath, she thought, this one day I can look like an unhappy broken-hearted girl and make him unhappy.  So she chose her brightest smile and her brightest clothes and put them on with care. He would be waiting for her at the usual place, with a smile. How will I hide my heart from him, her mind asked her. She walked to the usual place with a bowed down heart and a bright face.

From the first glance itself of her walking in that resplendent dress, he read through her veneer of cheerfulness easily. How to calm her, he thought. His heart wanted to protect her from everything, make her his, so that she would never have to face her troubles again. Yet he didn’t move at all and looked at her with the utmost attention.

As if to read his thoughts, she looked straight into his eyes, reading deep into his soul with her deep sad eyes. In that one single glance, much was said. Without even uttering a word, he understood that the end had begun and smiled like he expected it all along like a stoic warrior sentenced to death. She didn’t move but went on looking at him with the same calmness.

He moved his hand to touch her cheek. She twined his hand in hers and placed it against her cheek. Slowly a tear fell on his hand. Then more came while she sobbed aloud. Now he couldn’t bear all this distance. He leaned close to her and kissed her forehead. She smiled through her tears and rested her head against his chest. Hugging each other, they sat for long in silence.

When her tears ceased, she looked at him with a strange calmness and smiled. This smile was from heart where a strange silence took possession of her. When tears had purged the dross out of her mind and the emptiness in the heart was gone, what she felt was hope. Nothing could cast a shadow on their bliss again. As long as they lived, as long as death took one of them away, there was hope for them. An overwhelming love for him flowed in her heart. She took his hand and asked him to hug her tight and not to let her go to a universe of loss. Her eyes filled with tears for an instant. He held her tight and promised her that he will be with her till the end of his life.

Priceless

There were times when I have struggled a balance between my dreams of material wealth and spiritual happiness. Not that there were many possessions, a bare room that looked more like a scholar's study than a girl's bedroom but there was always a need to keep it spick and span.

There was this craving for possessions later always caused by an awareness of a lack looking at the wealthy and the rich. Then now, when it is possible to have possessions and objects that one wants, this strange heart wants nothing but to be left at peace, to know the wisdom of simplicity and of keeping away from needless clutter.

It wants not to learn the price of new desirables but to keep against its heart the priceless value of timeworn possessions, worn-out words, tired dreams and old loves of words, coffee, wine, music and  you.

Sunset sky