Sugar.

Cube, devoid, patient with time.

Into blue water, I know this rosy texture.

Change, dissolution, to become something else.
White crumbs falling into serenity.

Here I lay, midst your creation. 

Sweetness on your tongue, for as you please.

Drop, upon drop, missing on my real reflection,

I wait for serendipity.

Not until a little of  me is left.

You decide, I have nothing more to give.

I rise from the liquid, a newer form.

Something is different. I observe myself.

A sweet moment of chaos later,

the phase, I'll call it, when I had changed,

I realize something, and it pushes me forward.

I still taste the same. Alive, sweet freshness, and that of humanity.

Mumbai, the city that breathes.

~

"ऐ दिल है मुशकिल जीना यहाँ

ज़रा हट के, ज़रा बच के

ये है बॉम्बे मेरी जाँ"

~

Every person that lives here, even for a while, takes with him abundant memories. Memories that never really die, that resurface every moment they want to feel closer to their dreams. The ones who stay here, know the ordeal. It isn't easy being part of this city. Many try to create their own names, either in their own bubbles, or in the whole world. Some succeed, some don't. There are many things that people call this city: The city of dreams, the city that never sleeps, Mumbai, Bombay; they're all correct.

~

Mumbai is infectious. 

Once you start living in Mumbai, working in Mumbai, 

I don't think you can live anywhere else. 

- Yash Chopra

~

Mumbai is alive. Every hour, every second. You might speak about ones 'life in Mumbai', but the 'life of Mumbai' is another thing altogether. This city is fast. It doesn't wait for anybody. Time is the greatest illusion here; you wouldn't know how it passes by. But people will not complain. Be as it may, the rush that the city offers, makes people want more. And why not? The city accepts everyone with open arms. As long as you do your part, the city will give you back everything it has to offer, and more. This city breathes. Yes, Mumbai is alive. 

As part of the Zonal War conducted by Tata Motors (http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/) and IndiBlogger, I'm writing about the city I've spent all my life in. Mumbai; with respect to three key features that give the city its heartbeat; Drive, Design, and Connect. 

~

Drive: 

There are many roads in the city. The physical ones, and also the ones for your dreams. The need to do something is what drives people here. The daily chores might be mundane for a few, while a few might be doing what they love. Many might be struggling, while many live their life to the fullest. Be it rich or poor, any gender, any age, lives are aligned along the very same principles of hope, learning, accepting, and what drives them. From the time the sun rises, till the time it rises again, people keep running. Even resting here seems like something that prepares them for the future. Children grow in an open minded environment, which gives them wings, gives them many opportunities, making it easier for them to fly. The ones who aren't afraid to explore, and travel, are the ones that benefit most from this city's hustle bustle. For the city that never sleeps, one can always keep walking on the roads to his destination.

Design:

Lying on the western coast of the state of Maharashtra, urbanization in Mumbai can be seen in different ways. More than 50 percent of people who live here, live in slums. One can often find buildings, some very tall skyscrapers, right next to these slums, as they define the Mumbai skyline. The rich and the poor coexist. The city is designed in such a way, that every person is able to share something with the other, ensuring a balance of give and take. If you stand on the beach, look towards the horizon, the vastness of the sea will remind you about how insignificant, yet significant you are. The spaces where forests and greenery still thrives, will remind you how nature too coexists with the brick and stone in the city. Shops upon shops, work places, the nightlife, they all give to the city, it's different organs. This city is multifaceted, with every side, sharing a million stories.

Connect:

The very principle of growth forces one to connect. Mumbai, the financial hub of the country, has many businesses that thrive on its grounds. From simple products like the toys you'd buy off the road side, to complex ones like online services, it becomes important for the people to communicate easily, and fast. A single person here might know someone who works in the government, have a friend who works in the media, while mentoring a student, as he learns a different skill that would help himself get ahead in life, etc. You will know so many people, that a good friendship might always be around the corner. There's this strange Mumbaikar spirit that brings its people close every time there is a festival, and also during times of crises. Connections not only make ones dreams achievable, but also give the dreams that people have, meaning. There would be days when one would meet people out of the blue, and also days when one would feel utterly lost midst the crowd. In Mumbai, you're free to make your own connections. It's okay to not make them too, and you won't be judged because of that. 

~

So there you have it. Mumbai, with the hopes and desires of thousands of people that drive them towards their dreams; It's design, making sure that its urban ecology is in balance; And the deep connections that run across its existence like veins in the human body.

Bitter-sweet chocolate chip cookies with Sugar Free Natura. YUM!

The holiday season is here! Do you know what that means?
Apart from meeting up with friends, family, it's the time we get to partake into lots of food, get those sugar rushes, and satisfy our taste-buds! 

Sugar Free has given us bloggers on IndiBlogger, a Dessert challenge, where we all get to share the recipes of our favorite deserts with the world. The dessert which I shall be sharing today is a very tasty one, especially loved by kids. We use dark chocolate, because unlike normal chocolate, it offers many health benefits and doesn't account for much sugar either!  Lets get started.

~

Bitter-sweet chocolate chip cookies!

Time required: 0.5 to 1 hour.

Ingredients needed:
1. 0.5 cup melted butter
2. 0.25 cup Sugar Free Natura 
3. 1 Egg 
4. 0.5 tsp vanilla essence
5. 0.5 tsp salt
6. 0.5 tsp baking soda
7. 1.5 cups all-purpose Flour 
8. 2 cups dark chocolate chips

Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 175º C or 350º F.
2. Mix melted butter, Sugar Free Natura, in a bowl. 
3. Whisk in the Egg until it's combined. 
4. Now add in the vanilla essence, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add dark chocolate chips to this mixture.
6. Mix well until the cookie dough is ready. 
7. Scoop out from this dough and make tiny balls. (Depending on what sized cookies you'd want.)
8. Place them on a baking sheet, making sure to keep some distance between them as they will expand to become cookies.
9. Bake them for 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes before serving. (The cookies are fragile when they are warm, and become more solid as they cool.)

Enjoy your very own yummy, bitter-sweet chocolate chip cookies!

~

If you'd like to share your own recipe with the world too, do check this link out! 

http://sugarfree-india.com/

Top 10 recipes get to make their recipe videos with Sanjeev Kapoor!

Home.

I'm in space. Free floating. Your thoughts like stars are aligned in front of my eye sight. From where I am. My horizon. The end stretches into infinity, deeper, and deeper still. The sky isn't blue. I see no limit. But I'm at peace. This place, where I am. I'm my best self. And I am calm. This is home. You make me feel this good.

I'm water. I'm surrounded by water. I move with precision. I melt with ease. I mix with patience, with only the perfect ingredients. I'm steam. I'm ice. I'll burn your chills. I'll chill your burns. I feel strong. This place, where I am. I'm my best self. And I am calm. This is home. You make me feel this good.

I'm trying. I try, not because I have to. But because I must. Because I know this is right. This is my passion. I was born to be this. And I will make it right. I could run and run, run for miles and be dissolved. But I can't be someone lesser than me. I need to be here. This place. I'm fighting for it. I'm trying. This is my best self. I am calm. Why wouldn't I be? This is home. You make me feel this good.

You look wonderful tonight. I see you through and through. Match your hands with my palm. Let our fingers align. I know your secrets. You wished you knew mine. I have none. I promise. This place. Where I'm at. I'm my best self. And I'm calm. This is home. You make me feel this good.

I never knew I could be this selfish. But being selfish feels good. You permit me to. Pull me by my soul, and hold on to my skin. My flesh shall react. The organs will move. Blood and bones. They move in symphony. My breath is the question to all your answers. I'll speak answers to all your questions. This place, where I'm at. I'm my best self. And I'm calm. This is home. You make me feel this good.

A better person.

I have never really blamed people around me much in my life, but in the recent months, I have. I could easily find negatives in someones behavior, and the positives were difficult to find. I think I had lost myself somewhere, when I started believing that.

I've been an anti social bee since a couple of months, ever since my birthday, I suppose, when almost no one showed up. But it was all in my head. I pushed important people away on my birthday itself, I shouldn't blame anyone for anything. Things were worse after my dog died, I had started blaming everyone close to me, and soon, myself. Quite depressing if this goes on for months.

Half the year is over, and I've finally started meeting up with my close friends, in a balanced manner, not wanting to run away. I've realized how they've been there for me, how I've been there for them, how people do go out of they way to help the ones they care about, and I see this in love, family, friends, everywhere.

I had cocooned myself up in layers of doubts and depression, but now, the shell is slowly peeling off. It is not because of those who are helping me, but because of me, who's finally agreeing to accept help.

If you really listen closely, to what others have to say, you'd realize that there's just more to learn from everything. There are so many perspectives to everything! It's quite beautiful.

I've remembered a few things that I had almost forgotten about. The fact that me, as a person, was always emphathetic, and never judgmental. Empathy is difficult, but I need to hold onto it as a gift, no matter how hard it gets. It's difficult when you're brushed up with so many emotions of others, when you absorb it all in, to understand them better, but I think I can do a better job by meditating and trying to remain unattached.

You know, how people say that we're the best when we are kids, and adulthood spoils us up, and we waste our lives away only to realize our mistakes when we are old? I don't want to go through that path. I'd like to always remember the fact that our life is a gift, and there's just so much more to discover!

I know of many adults who think they know the world. But no one does. Not me as a kid. Not as an adult. Not when I'm old. There's just so much to learn. I'm never forcing my views on anyone. Certain realizations have dawned upon me, and I've finally understood myself better, and I do believe that's the first step to understanding the world.

I've been told that I'm too confused to do me any good. But I know, that I do too, have things I'm confident about. If I need to be confident as an adult, I'll be confident in my belief that no one knows everything (all hail Socrates). That learning is the much needed curve, in life. I'll be confident enough to know, that good and bad, both do exist, it's about time, perspectives, a million life stories that go behind what makes a person; and all of this, is no small thing.

In a chaotic mess, we each pull others down, or push them forward, unbalanced; this happens, and I guess, it is needed for change. Let's not forget who we are, let's not stop dreaming, the best, the better, is always, yet to come, and I believe it now, because I think I am a better person than I was yesterday.

Faux Star signs.

Sorry. But they're fake.

For the stereotypical Sagittarius in me, I would have wanted to cheat, remaining honest, be blatantly rude, think, philosophize, travel; but I do have a little bit of every other sign. I've observed, that things are so, for everyone else. I've never been a strong believer of star signs, but I've never denied the fact that I find them fun. Still, star signs seems false to me today.

The moon can cause such a huge difference in our lives. The tides depend on it. The sea, wind, all depend on it, and so does life on Earth in certain ways. Why not, then, can constellations affect the lives of us humans? Our jobs, choices, behavior? That's what people might want to remind themselves if they'd like to believe in the practice of associating and classifying fellow humans with respect to their star signs.

It's always fun, waking up in the morning, running up to the daily newspaper and looking for the astrology section, reading out loud what possible could be all that the day has in store for us. I've done it many times, for myself, my friends, family. Most of my closest friends belong to either Aries, Cancer, or Sagittarius, with a few Gemini. I've stopped reading them now. I should share what brought about this change. This one day when I was going through the Sagittarius horoscope, I found a very ghastly editing error. There was a, "Dear Capricorn! You've been brave.", placed right before my horoscope started off.

What-A-Joke.

I stopped reading the horoscopes even for fun, after that. What a waste of time.
Since that day, after a lot of thinking, I came to a conclusion that perhaps these star signs only apply in certain ways, if real. Maybe you do need a good astrologer. The planets, their alignment, I mean, there's just no science in certain words. Astrology was never the same as astronomy.

Star signs perhaps are responsible only for a certain traits of different people. I believed this too. Cancer, caring, emotional. Pisces, the one's that always end up with a sappy story. Aries, the life of any party. The Gemini, some two-faced intellectual being, who fails to apply his own advice to others in his own life. All this seems so true. Most agree. But I do believe that a few of the Cancer-friends I have, are as philosophical as me. Gemini, as down to Earth as a Taurus, or as haughty, as a Leo. Anything is possible, really, and all of the possible combinations of star signs and adjectives to describe them must surely exist.

I love to travel, but I do too want a home. I'll be honest, but I'd lie to save your ass. I'm a little emotional too. Hey, and do believe everyone's life is sappy. Be a dark tale, or a happy one, it's sappy never-the-less. I'm compatible with the people who share similar likes, and thoughts, or dissimilar ones, anything. Everyone is unique, for sure, and each on of us has traits that are our own. Star signs seem nothing but a naive source of recreation that we've just trapped ourselves in.

I much rather eat some popcorn and chill. Also, if I do ever happen to come across a person who tells me that they're Sagittarius as they introduce themselves, hoping to get along with me purely based on the lines of 'philosophy' or 'traveling', I'd look at them, straight in the eye, and give a tiny nod. Alright then, fellow naive human, time to burst your bubble!

I wanted to edge closer...

... But too close to the fire, and I'd burn myself.

I saw a fire tonight and I wanted to edge closer. I was denied the meek pleasure. I feel sad. I wanted it.
To lift me up, stretch me, all until my bones cracked and released.

Lethargy has tied me down to something cold. I try to break free, but it takes a lot of effort. The month of February bought with itself, a chillness as cold as a slab of ice against ones palm. Cold, but numbing, so you don't really feel any pain.

Things happened. And they didn't happen out of the blue. I was very much prepared. I knew what ifs, understood the why's, and was prepared. It was easy; going through them.

I had reached a point though, where I couldn't really understand the reasons of what was around me. I question things. And this month, I've questioned things back to back. It was very tiring. I had questions that had no easy answers.

So a few hours back, when I saw the Holika away from a mile, I wished to edge closer to it. I needed the fire. It burned a beautiful bright.

I would've liked to feel the warmness spread across me, all throughout my body.
Till my muscles squeezed up, eyes watered; cleansed. Till the heat would make a sprint, on over my skin, and my skin, with goosebumps then, submitting in pure ecstasy.

I needed it.

I wrote the above as I was dragged away from the fire. Dragged by my own weariness. My weakness. I was ill, well. Had to visit the doctor.

I crossed my fingers as I left the place, hoping for the fire to remain alive until I returned. Thankfully, it did. And I could witness it as it burnt off into gold, black, its charred self.

I've been wanting to do so many things, but I'm failing when it comes to prioritizing. There's something very important missing from the picture. Is it that I seek a voice that would enjoy hearing me out? I need a push. I look into the mirror. And that woman's all that I need.

Hear me out? She's listening.
Just gotta lift myself up.

I heaved a heavy sigh as I left the fire. It was dying, but I felt strong again.
Such little things. They do matter a lot.