I am sharing a poem with everyone. It is a part from ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ written by Lord Bryon . It has made me feel a little better. I hope you fall in love with it.
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep Sea, and music in its roar: I love not Man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.
Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean–roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin–his control Stops with the shore;–upon the watery plain The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain A shadow of man’s ravage, save his own, When for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.
His steps are not upon thy paths,–thy fields Are not a spoil for him,–thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth’s destruction thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send’st him, shivering in thy playful spray And howling, to his gods, where haply lies His petty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth: —there let him lay.
I have been wanting to write about a lot of things – the interesting lady I met, social pressure during COVID, declining health of my new plant, the poem – The Road Not Taken, etc. But exam pressure has kept me away from writing. I am hoping to get back to it as soon the exam is over.
After a long preparation with lots of hope and confidence I took a mock test yesterday. I was not even close to the average cutoff mark. It was very painful to accept the reality. My partner on the other hand has scored reasonably well. I know I was supposed to feel happy for him but I was caught up in my own sadness.
I am not letting it affect me. I am going to continue taking a lot more tests even it I get negative scores. It is, after all, only an examination. I will try my best and let time take me where I am destined. Moving on with Stoic attitude. Thanks to Schingle, a fellow blogger, for introducing me to stoicism.
I have been wanting to start my own small garden in the balcony for a very long time now. I kept putting it off for one or the other reason. The other day when we visited my partner’s close friend, they gifted me with two jasmine saplings. I knew then it was time for me to start.
Today I got a few essentials for gardening – pots, soil and tools, and a basil sapling for starting my new project. It feels amazing. I have three babies now. My partner would disagree as he thinks I have four babies including him as he considers himself to be one.
I must mention. The exceptional gardeners in my blogging circle were also a big inspiration. Thank you all!
Today is the day my migraine decided to torture me again. I have been eating take-out food a lot since I am preparing for the examination. Unfortunately, the food is not agreeing with me. I have to find a solution for that now.
Post lunch, we rearranged the furniture to make it a comfortable studying place for us. I really hope it doesn’t turn out so comfortable that it becomes our entertainment corner. I have taken my chair next to the window to ensure I get enough sunlight. My partner politely agreed to give me the spot as he considers it to be a pressure cooker during the hot afternoons.
On a different note, yesterday evening we got a new interface for my partner’s online classes – a pen tablet. It is working really well. He seemed very happy with how he conducted the class today. I, on the other hand, had fun drawing with it. I never thought I would enjoy digital drawing as I have always been a pencil and paper girl.
Honestly, even though I enjoy having a good earphone and a pen tablet, I feel the house is getting cluttered with devices. There are wires everywhere. I do not enjoy seeing it. Some time after my exam, I think I will have to spend a week decluttering the house. Have I told you that we do not have a television? It was a conscious decision we had taken to keep us from turning into couch potatoes. Sadly, we have become people who are chained to phones and laptop.
Just 30 more days! Off I go now. Hope you all are safe and happy.
I had one class today and post that I have been whiling away my time. The heat is killing me. Especially the evenings when the sun directly hits the room. I think it is the humidity that is causing the trouble. No amount of water is able to quench the thirst. I am hoping for an early monsoon.
My significant other is frustrated as his homemade touch-pen is not helping his online classes. He is looking for a better alternative on which we do not have to spent a lot of money. I think he is frustrated as well with the heat and the classes.
Ohhhhhh, I miss the comfort of nature. I miss being in a home with lots of people. I hope we cross this journey safely. Going back to the chores now.
I am including a song causally sung by my favorite singer Sudeep Palanad. The song depicts the river as a beautiful girl.
Music by: Ravendran Lyrics: O. N. V. Kurup Originally sung by: K. J. Yeshudas Movie: Ente Nandinikuttikku, 1984
Yesterday was not a bad beginning. It did not go the way I expected it to but I cannot classify it as a day wasted. Today I have two online class and a few other studying to finish.
My partner was not feeling very well yesterday. He has suddenly become gloomy. I think it is because of all the classes he has started to teach. He is supposed to finish preparations for a series of classes which are happening in a week’s time. But he has been pushing it around which makes me think he might take my help closer to the classes. Those are going to be sleepless nights. I am not ready for that!
I was thinking about my dog yesterday. I wish she were here with me. She knows how to make me laugh.
I have 35 days left for exam. The fear has started to kick in. This could be a huge turning point in my life. I have sacrificed two years of my life for this cause. If I manage to clear then I will have to face a big monster in three months’ time. If I do not manage to clear then I have to figure out a new path for myself. It is just a matter of 35 days now. Let us see how it goes
I went out yesterday. I met a few friends after a very long time. We spent couple of hours talking about almost everything. I do not recollect the exact topics of conversation now. One of them, let’s call her Ms. D, lost her father nearly a month ago. We wanted to make sure she was doing alright. I gave her a journal. Hope it helps!
It is almost two in the night. Intending to sleep as soon as possible. I don’t have a huge checklist for today. Just keeping my fingers crossed.
I started following Lyn Crain through her ‘Letter – C’ blog, which has been an inspiration for me. Thank you so much Lyn for nominating me for Vincent Ehindero Award.
The Rules:
Thank the person who nominated you with a link to their blog.
Make a post of the award (with a photo of the logo).
Post the rules.
Ask 5-10 questions of your choice.
Nominate 10-30 other bloggers (or more) and notify them.
My answers for Lyn’s questions:
What genre is your favorite?
Short Stories and Prose Poetry have always been my favorite reads. Short Stories are like the short bursts of emotions. I would like to refer them to as m&m’s, you know what it can do to you. Poetry is like a candy you savor for a long time. However, I enjoy Prose Poetry more as one does not get caught up with the technicalities but lets the emotions flow.
If you could be a character in any story which one would it be?
Josephine March in Little Women is the character I can think about right now. Jo is a strong willed, brave and independent woman who stood by her beliefs and lived her life in her own terms. She was a true feminist in every sense. I cannot recollect anyone else I would want to be right now.
Are you veggie lover or a fruit lover?
Fruits!!!! Definitely! I do eat vegetables but I love varieties of fruits. I crave fruits especially when I am sick. There is something about them that is very refreshing, don’t you think? But the funny part is there are certain fruits I refrain from eating, for example, muskmelon. Wondering why? Because it tastes like pumpkin!
What era of music is your favorite and why?
All kinds of music of all eras. I listen to songs from 1950s to the present. Mostly my preference for music is correlated to my mood. But certain days it is the other way round as well.
If you change one thing in the world, what would it be?
If I get an opportunity to change one thing in the world it is going to be how people treat nature. I do agree that development is very essential but every time I go home I see lesser trees and wider asphalt roads. I really wish to find a way to perfectly coexist without digging our own grave.
Why did you begin blogging?
I had never recognised myself to be a writer. It is when I once expressed myself in writing to my partner as I couldn’t express my feeling through speech that a new way of expressing myself opened up. I usually write Prose Poetry which I have never published in a public platform. I keep holding back as I tend to think there is something wrong with it.
What makes you laugh?
A lot of things. I have always enjoyed humour and have enjoyed the company of people who have a good humour sense. The most recent incident that made me laugh very hard was when my partner was narrating an incident where a friend (girl) of his accidentally walked in and ran out in shock while he was trying to find happiness as a lone man inside his one-room apartment.
Oh wait! Something just happened. As I write this blog a mosquito happened to sit on the tip of my nose and I had a good five seconds of trying to figure out the calculation for killing the mosquito with the racquet without electrocuting my nose.
