Little pleasures

                           Ok so I haven't written in a while, maybe because I have nothing much to write or maybe because I have been too busy studying...just kidding..I can't study more than 20 mins a day so, yes! I was inspiration-less...still am, you can probably see that.
                           Hmmm, so...something I discovered a couple of weeks back - Ghiradelli mini Intense Dark and Salted Caramel squares. One word - HEAVENLY ! It is a combination of the two absolute best things in the world - dark chocolate and salted caramel and they actually use sea salt which gives it that bit of sophistication. It comes in a packet containing other chocolates with sea salt, but this is THE BEST.
                           The first time I ate it, it didn't make much of an impact...it tasted like any other caramel filled chocolate square. Later, about after 2-3 hours, in school, I found myself craving for the richness of the dark chocolate and the saltiness of the caramel. After I reached home I plunged into the packet and indulged in about three of them, after which I had to force myself to stop. This happened for another 2 days before I managed to finish all the squares, by myself, with the exception of giving one to Shuvangi, who fell in love with it too ! After that I had to satisfy my craving by having the regular caramel squares, which weren't half as good..but I had to make do.
                         So, I discovered Ghiradelli some days back and thanks to it I have a new found obsession with caramel and sea salt. I have started making caramel popcorn every second day ! Apart from that there has been nothing exciting happening in my life, at least nothing I can think of...so yeah that's all ! 

My first time reading Frost

                    So today in English class I acquainted myself with Robert Frost for the first time, not really, but today was the first time I actually properly understood two of his poems, and now I'm completely in love with him !

                   Our syllabus includes Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening but we also discussed The Road Not Taken (obviously !) and Fire and Ice. The road not taken seems like a very simple poem but once you delve into the depths of it you can find soooo many interpretations ! The theme  of the poem would be reaching a crossroad in your life and taking the risk by making the less common choice.
                 I liked Stopping by Woods more. It impacts you by putting across truths of life in a very simple but stark way. The woods, as interpreted by the class, set up an atmosphere of mystery and the unknown. All of us have long to be free and live carefree lives where we can do as we please but we are all constricted by social norms where we have chores to complete and promises to keep.  Most of us admire that kind of a lifestyle but can not afford to live it. Also, we have to keep on moving, completing our chores and duties of the day, and ultimately of our lives, suppressing these outburst of longing.
                The other meaning, the one that Frost intended to put forward, although simpler, made an even greater impact. The poet was returning home, upset due to certain reasons, when he came across this breathtaking sight. He stopped there to admire the woods and was so mesmerised by the beauty of nature that, although momentarily, he forgot all his problems. But he had his own social constrictions, promises to keep, chores to complete, he couldn't stand there all day so he had to continue with his journey back home, life had to go on. 

 "Just one last story mumma, please ?"
"Ok, but promise me you'll go to sleep after that !"

 Her 3 year old daughter looked up at her with expectant eyes. She was a patient listener, very very fond of stories. She could tell her daughter the same stories over and over again and her daughter -Antra, would just lie beside her, and listen with the same eagerness as she had done when she first heard the story. Her favourite story was that of a little tailor-bird called tuntuni who was the pet of a very cruel Raja. The Raja loved her but he had caged her in a tiny golden cage where she did not have enough space to even spread her wings ! Tuntuni wanted to be free and fly to different places and see the beautiful things all over the world, so one day she decided it was high time she did something. When a servant came to feed her at the same time that he always did, he noticed that the little bird lay still in the cage. Naturally, he thought she was dead. He ran to call the Raja who ran to see his beloved bird. The Raja had grown worried. He opened the cage door to check what was wrong and just then Tuntuni hopped out of the cage, stretched her wings and flew away, never to return to the Raja's kingdom.
But today, Radhi had decided to tell her daughter a different story.One that her grandmother used to tell her when Radhi was about Antra's age. She had loved the story and kept asking her grandmother to repeat it, just like Antra did now. She looked into her daughter's eyes and saw she, not for the first time, how much she resembled Radhi.
"Is it going to be Tuntuni mumma ?" "No sweetheart, I'm going to tell you a different story, one that my grandmother used to tell me" An excited smile flashed across her face, she pulled the blanket over her feet and readied her self for a new story. 

Radhi looked at her innocent little daughter one more time and at that point she felt the same feeling yet again. She wanter her daughter to never grow up, to always be the innocent little thing that derived pleasure from all the simple things in life, like listening to stories...She wanted her daughter to love her as much as she did now and wanted to be the most important thing in Antra's life forever, as selfish as that sounds. She dreaded the years to come, when she knew her little Antra would grow up, make new friends, sideline her mother and maybe even feel ashamed of her. She could feel the lump forming in her throat but she ignored it, pushing these thoughts away. She smiled at her daughter, and derived pleasure from her slight innocent face. Yes, one day her daughter would feel ashamed of her, but that day was not today. Plus that was the way of life, it was nature.
Pushing all these thoughts aside, she narrated her favourite story to the little girl and watched as Antra drifted off to sleep. The pushed the locks of hair, that had freed themselves from her daughter's ponytail, away from Antra's face, gently lifted her head and placed it on the pillow and gave her daughter a goodnight kiss before drifting off too sleep herself.