Faith

What does it mean to have faith?

Many say they have faith

Faith in what one asks?

Faith in who one asks?

Faith in the Lord God

How can we have faith in God?

Faith is about believing

Faith is about living

In the manner that harms none

In a manner that cares for each one

Faith is trusting in Him

Faith is being focused on Him

Not just when times are good

But more so when times are bad

Doubts creep in slyly trying to shake you

This is a time to try you

The time to test if your faith is true

To test if you are a bhakt true

The adversities can be physical

Mental, social or financial

The peace and stability of faith is hard won

Brought on by faith in that One

This is a spiritual way of life

Rather than a religious life

The faith must be unshakable

To make you stable

Balanced in life

In pain and strife

Balanced in joy and wealth

In happiness and health

I have Faith

Rising from the Ashes

Despair is dark

Like a black mark

That will not go away

And hold total sway

If left unchecked

It will deepen till checked

It is an effort to think

But if I want to go towards the light’s brink

I must take those steps

A slow struggle to move up those steps

After all it is what I want

More than anything I can ever want

To see the light after despair

Makes it a victory over despair

Slowly I build my tattered self

Takes time to repair the self

Is this the strength I have lacked?

Spirituality rarely backed?

Becoming stronger is all in the mind

Spirituality finally strengthens the mind

Making me grow more patient

With others and self, more patient

 Accept what cannot be changed

Instead of fighting for all to be changed

Build my faith in that which is bigger than all

Try to be kind to one and all

Forgive those who hurt me

Forgive those who neglect me

That does not kill us, makes us stronger

But who says what is stronger?

I feel stronger mentally and spiritually

Though not recovered physically

Live every day as if it is the last

 Take the pleasures and make them last

Beautiful flowers swaying in the breeze

Butterflies dancing in the breeze

Rustling of the leaves in the breeze

Clean washing fluttering in the breeze

The birds chirping multitude of songs

My heart dances to the songs

The black despair held at bay for another day

But it’s my victory for another day

Keeping the darkness that can never be far away

For pain has a way for finding a way

Still am thankful for the strength I have gained

Strength of soul that I have gained

Tender Feelings

The trembling of a dew drop on a petal

The glistening of a metal

The smile on a baby’s face

The love’s tender gaze

Baby birds nesting in the leaves

Among uncurling new leaves

The pale green leaf unfurling gently

Touching the soft skin gently

Mothers holding their babies to breast

Hugging them to their chest

Love and tenderness are clear to see

Evoking emotion in all who see

A Dark Anatomy by Robin Blake

This is the first book I am reading by Robin Blake. It is set in 1740s England and of course is a murder mystery. A local gentlewoman has been found dead with her throat cut. The body is found in the woods by the workers of the estate who go searching for her, when her horse comes back riderless. The coroner who is the main character of the story is called in, as this is an unexplained death.

This is a story that is intriguing in many ways. The murder and the attempt to find the truth is one puzzle. When trying to uncover what happened the author gives a fairly good account of what the state of policing and of forensics was. The policing was practically non-existent and as for understanding of the human body and its complexities was in its infancy. The human nature and simplistic outlook of the people is well portrayed. The coroner is a very meticulous man and works hard to discover the truth with the help of his friend who is a doctor and usually performs the post-mortem. He sets about getting his jury together to hold the inquest when the body disappears from the ice house where it had been placed till the doctor could view it.

Granted the woman was not well-liked and there were none who mourned her death. The husband is the prime suspect but has an iron clad alibi. He does not want an inquest or a post-mortem and wishes the coroner would treat it as an accident. How can this be if the throat had been cut from ear to ear? Surely the husband has something to hide, especially since it was known that the marriage was unhappy one and he had been trying to get a divorce from his rich Jamaican wife. He surely needed the money as he was working on a building project. The architect who manages the project also appears to have something to hide. The workers in the estate have little information that can help in finding the truth.  

Who would benefit from her death and subsequently from taking away the body? Was this the work of the murderer? In order to hide the truth that might be revealed if the post-mortem was carried out? Was it the body snatchers who were stealing dead bodies and selling them to anatomists for dissection? Was there any truth is the rumours that the lady was a werewolf? There is such mixture of beliefs and myths and what in the present day may sound totally ridiculous was a firm belief of many in those times.

This is a very descriptive novel with details of the times and also out of the need to detect crime. After all there are no fancy gadgets to use but only the human mind and thinking. It is however a different flavour to the other murder mysteries that I have read which were set in different times. The discussion and thinking relate to philosophy, medicine, law, truth, anatomy, religion and so on. Many subjects dealt with to give a good mystery and a small lesson in history. Well worth a read. I shall look for other books by this author.

Doodhpak (rice pudding)

This is one of my favourite Indian sweet of all time. The ingredients are not many and the preparation is simple. However, it does take time and patience. I usually make enough for it to last a few days so that I can have my fill and a good recompense of the time spent stirring the milk. It is the perfect sweet to eat with or after a meal or even on its own. 

Ingredients

4 pints of full cream milk (2 litres – the semi skimmed will not work as creaminess is the essence of the dish)

Sugar (adjust the amount your preference)

Almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts (a small handful of each)

Raisins (a small handful)

8 – 10 pods of cardamom

Rice – a small handful of nice fragrant basmati rice

Preparation

Gather all the ingredients and roughly chop the nuts as well as wash the raisins. Put the milk in a pan on the heat. Add sugar, nuts and raisins to the milk. Break open the cardamom pods and crush the seeds and add into the milk. Wash the rice and have it ready. Once the milk comes to boil add the rice into it. Now turn the heat down to medium and allow the milk to continue boiling gently. 

It would be prudent to keep an eye and stir the milk often so that it does not boil over or start sticking to the bottom of the pan. The dish is ready once the rice gets cooked. However, you can boil it to get the consistency you want. I prefer it fairly thick and leave the milk to cook till it reduces to half the original amount. Take it off the heat and cool for a while in the pan. Then stir the milk to break up any layer of cream that forms on top. This, now can be placed in the fridge to chill.

Here are some other recipes of the same dish -

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/desserts/doodh-pak.html

http://www.khanapakana.com/recipe/6e735e2e-2e79-4f7b-96c2-204466fcecee/doodh-pak-rice-milk-pudding-or-dudh-paank

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Doodh+Pak:3015

 

You can leave the rice out altogether and you would get rabdi. This is fairly thickened milk with the nuts and raisins and tastes wonderful too. This rabdi can also then be frozen and had as ice cream or kulfi. There is a slight variation also when you can add fine vermicelli instead of rice. However the vermicelli has to be slightly browned in a small amount of ghee before adding the milk and nuts and letting it cook till the vermicelli is cooked and the milk thickened to right consistency. 

Here are some recipes for seviyan (vermicelli pudding) -

http://renus-kitchen.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/seviyan-kheer-sweet-vermicelli-pudding_31.html

http://recipe2cook.com/kheer-recipes/vermicelli-kheer-seviyan-kheer.html

http://vegindianrecipe.com/seviyan-recipe/