My column for 25th January from Mail Today by India Today.
Faith, Hope, Courage and Love
When one lives with faith, hope, courage and love, one lives and breathes without struggle.
Faith is never to be mistaken with creed, dogma, cult, worship, or credo. To have faith is to have the wisdom that mere mortals cannot change every outcome in life. Faith makes us comfortable in knowing who we are and who we are not. Faith stands by us when all else is failing us.
Faith is our friend when friends leave us by. Faith begins where tangible transactions fail and end. It is that belief that comes from conviction and without question. It never need be blind; it asks us to let go of ego and control.
Faith requires attachment and detachment, fealty and steadfastness. Faith comes from loyalty to ourselves and to truth.
Hope is the desire to be fulfilled, to expect and want closure. Hope can also be resolute without expectation or fulfillment. One can be full of hope today, and tomorrow be hopeful for other reasons, and day after for reasons different still.
Hope can elevate our mood, it can change our plans, it can bring new outcomes, and settle old scores.
Hope need not be tended. Hopeful outcomes can be influenced by our attendance or lack thereof.
The strength to persevere against all odds, when dangers envelop us, when we are clouded by difficulties and perplexed by life-altering conundrums; to withstand that and stay on course, that is courage.
The courageous stand up for their own rights, and, too, for the most unpopular causes. Daring in the face of a storm. Heroic in the middle of an emotionally charged mob where bullies feel emboldened. Gallant when none are watching. Gutsy when mediocrity comes with rewards. Virtuous in prowess and fortitude when morality seems most inconvenient. This is true courage.
Love is the mother’s peerless passion and care for a child. Love is the affection that rises from deep within when one spots a personal kinship with another.
It is the pulsating, throbbing, sweating, seductive beating of the heart and flesh that happens when one is faced by another who brings out our carnal lust.
It is also admiration that comes from respectful affection and age-old connection. It can be tender and fatally murderous. Love can last beyond our lifetime. Love can exist between people without them meeting in person. It can be devoted, enthusiastic, endearing, formal, amorous, embracing, conditional or unconditional; it can also be unfulfilling.
Serendipity
Farm girls meeting at Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.
Myra is a proud “Southern Gal” from South Carolina. Raised on a farm, with farming occupying her mind even as she made her home in Manhattan.
No surprise then, that on our entire trip, the only photograph Myra asked to be taken was this one.
A portrait of her with another farm gal. Surely a more serious one, and one with many stories of farming and its vagaries and blessings to share.
Textures and colors, lives and loves, hopes and habits, faiths and beliefs, trials and tribulations, hunger and longing unite and separate these ladies, parted by many seas.
Humanity and empathy, love and loss, anger and hate are their shared values and challenges.
Smiles galore, polite exchange of pleasantries, many clicks of cameras and phones, give a commissural moment of inspiring togetherness. This in a world where we are oft apart and seldom united.
As They Ran
Aadi Nayar is the younger of the two sons my friends Archana and Sameer have. All of 14, his age is hardly anything you can judge him by. It is his poetry and how he handles himself socially that makes him a rare find anywhere and in any age group in Delhi and across the world.
Life isn’t a bed of roses for anyone, and not so for Aadi either, but his winning smile, fluid words, and empathetic manner could fool, seduce and impress one and all. There is a peerless grace in him, a rare economy with words and an uncanny ability to use poetic expression to communicate.
A casual lunch encounter with Aadi and his family brought me the powerful gift of his writing. I share a piece more to bring inspiration to others than to validate the skills of a young man already on his way to becoming an engaged citizen of our global village.
As they ran
Across the fields
Acutely aware
Of their own shortcomings
But cared
Despite.
Not looking for answers
They had
Themselves.
It was love
Love
That held them together
That made them a part of each other.
An untouched soul
Beautiful
And brave.
Her body
Her mind
The aura of perfection.
She loved him.
A broken man
Tired
Of the world
That surrounded him
A world
He could not
Sustain.
And yet
He loved her.
Underneath the stars
they danced
And laughed
And kissed
And drank
For they knew
Nothing
Could tear them apart.
For they were love.
And love
Was them.
-Aadi Nayar
Pear and Cranberry Cobbler
Makes 8 servings
For the fruit
5 ripe Bartlett or Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges
2 cups/300 g berries (like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries)
1 cup/110 g fresh cranberries
1 cup/200 g sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Zest of 1 lemon plus juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
For the topping
1 large egg
3 tablespoons/45 ml whole milk or heavy cream
1 cup/100 g all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons/50 g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick)/85 g frozen butter, cut into small pieces
Heavy cream, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream for serving
Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C (Gas Mark 5). To prepare the fruit, combine the pears, berries, and cranberries in a large bowl and toss together with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, spices, and salt. Transfer the fruit to a large pot and cook over medium-high heat until the fruit breaks down into a jam like consistency, about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Spread the fruit in a 9- by 11-inch/23- by 27-cm baking dish and set aside.
To make the topping, whisk together the egg and milk and set aside. Place the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, and salt an a food processor and pulse to combine Add the butter and pulse until the butter is worked in, and there are no bits larger than a small pea. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients while pulsing until all of the liquid is added and just a couple of dry patches remain. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and work by hand once or twice just to combine.
Break the dough into 12 small chunks, and arrange them over the fruit. Sprinkle the biscuits with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake the cobbler until the biscuits are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve with heavy cream.
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