Republic Day Dinner 2021!

 Republic Day Dinner!...

A Colourful & Delicious Hotpot Dinner!

Here are the photos and a video:

Video:

Happy with the ‘Heart of the Ocean’! – A story, in verse.

 

Unaware of finding a fortune

A precious love-token

From times ancient

I went on a vacation

To a coastal town

A remote one

And a small one

Very pristine

With the mighty ocean

On one side

And on the other side

The town engulfed in green

With an amazing beach in-between.

The town’s men

And the women

Were welcoming

And caring

And the lodging

Quite pleasing

The seafood was fresh and fine

So was it with all to dine.

Weather was fabulous

With beautiful sunrises

Breezy and bright days

Chilly and starry nights

Everything was pleasant

Making my stay magnificent.

I went around the town

Talking to one or another person

Enquiring about their town

And their lives

And their families

And sharing my outlooks

And I strolled on the beach

Every morning and evening

And played with the waves.

A day before the end of my holiday

I ventured beyond the regular beach way

On to a sandy and rocky terrain

To click some scenic images

With the waves splashing on the rocks

And on my clothes

I moved on, clicking pictures

And as I thought of returning

Because the tide was rising

I sighted a stunning turtle a few feet away

Immobile; perhaps resting

And to take a picture of the turtle

I moved closer to the turtle.

As I bent over

To take a closer picture

My passport slipped out

From my shirt pocket

And fell on the turtle

And rolled in front of it

The hit startled the turtle

It walked over my passport

Without leaving a scratch on it

Ruling out my momentary dread

Towards the ocean and disappeared.

As I was about to pick up my passport

I saw an ornament

At the place where the turtle was at rest

And I was astonished

To see this beautiful necklace

With the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ diamond

The images of which I have seen

Time and again

Most, of the imitation.

I collected it

Considering it as a gift from the turtle

And for us, the turtle

Is not just a good-luck symbol

But a representation of God

The Kurma Avataram!

Back in my room that night

I checked on my mobile

To ascertain, and found it to be alike

The Heart of the Ocean' diamond necklace

A priceless one

With a heart-shaped

Over 170-carat blue diamond

Flanked by diamonds

Hanging on a white gold chain.

I knew for sure

That it did not belong to this town

But had come from the ocean

Surely brought out by the turtle

For me to treasure.

Being from a family of jewellers

It just took me a little time in finding

That the glittering stones

Around the blue heart are diamonds

And as for the huge blue diamond

To keep my family harmless

It is safest not to get it examined

Because for long it remained

In the ocean respected

And not a bit tarnished

So it is the ‘Heart and Soul of the Ocean’

But I shall let the world reason

That it is a replica.

Ever since the necklace was crafted

Long ago in a distant land

It has expressed love and gratitude

To whomever, it was presented

And I did so to my beloved.

She is pleased with the gift

And the fact that it is priceless

Together we sincerely wish

It stays with us and our predecessors

As a blessing from God

The Kurma Avataram

Forever blessing us

Guiding us, and protecting us.

Distasteful for countless but delightful for numberless!

Ready to eat, ready to cook foods are delicious and cater to our appetite easily and make us happy.  But with continuous usage and on the long run they are harmful to us because of the proportion of the seasonings, some ingredients and the preservatives in them. I think there is no household in the entire world which does not stock these ready to eat and ready to cook packages and bottles! Available everywhere! Limited usage of these is OK but definitely, addiction is most harmful.

However, great things, healthiest, easy to cook and ready to eat ones, are also available especially in Asian countries in tightly sealed packages and bottles. In some nations, it is a staple food! In India, there are very few stores selling these items. In Secunderabad, there are two shops tucked inside Pot Market and two in Monda Market and that is all. Thanks to the online availability of these items, procuring them has become easy nowadays. These items that have been in the world ever since the beginning of humanity are still available in the same form, no additional ingredients, no chemical preservatives but only salt… coated with salt they are sun-dried or machine-dried. They have many vitamins, minerals, high-quality proteins, healthy fats including long-chain of omega-3 fatty acids like Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)), and a unique source of essential nutrients such as iodine, zinc, copper, selenium, and calcium which provide major overall health benefits… they promote brain and heart health too. They have selenium, which, if eaten regularly, may reduce the risk of some types of cancer!

The contents of these packages are smelly and repulsive to many. As these are non-veg items, vegetarians would keep away from them. And while cooking even some non-vegetarian neighbours who cannot relish this food would find the smell unpleasant. However, to the lovers of this food like me, their appearance is mouth-watering and delightful even when un-cooked!  

I present here the pictures of this great, delicious and nutritious food:

Flowers are ornaments for me.

My heart desires these flowers!

Bright and fragrant flowers!

Jasmine flowers,

And Firecracker flowers!

That is Mallelu,

And Kanakambaralu!

Most beautiful ornaments,

For my tresses,

But now what do I do,

With my short hairdo? J

- N. Lalitha Raghu.

Happy to post this to my journal, my blog.

Happy to post this to my journal, my blog.

I am sharing here a chance finding, which is making me happy: The ‘Baby Book’ of my sons that was hiding from me since a very long time and has appeared now, perhaps to show to my grandchildren! - Here are a few pages from it:

Wish You A Very Happy And Prosperous New Year 2021!

 

Wish you all a great, prosperous, blissful, healthy, bright, delightful, energetic, and an extremely Happy New Year 2021!

The attached photographs are of our New Year Eve Party, a very modest one this year…in the absence of many family members and relatives. However, we saw to it that we happily bid goodbye to 2020 and welcomed 2021 in high spirits.

Now I will leave it for the attached video and the pictures to tell about our party:

VIDEO: