Alexander Discovers An Unusual Plant | Quintessential Meaning | Learn Th...

Once upon a time, Alexander The Great was treading through Indian mountains with his cavalry. They combed the jungles in these mountains to pluck some herbs and plants they could use for adding flavor to their emperor’s food. What they were looking for in particular was a plant called silphium. But by the time they reached India, the emperor realized that they had mistakenly used another plant in place of silphium. This newly-discovered plant smelled nasty but added a strong, delicious flavor to the food. Soon, the word spread among people. They too started using this plant to add flavour to their daily meals. Over many years, this plant became a quintessential spice in Indian cooking. People gave it names like “Asafoetida,” “Hing,” and even “food of the gods.” Quintessential means “the essence of something,” “the most important part of something” or the “most perfect example or representation of something.”

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Superstar Billionaire | Poem by Neha's Notebook

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Oh I want it so bad

I want it more than

All the things I ever had

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And be on the cover of Forbes and Fortune magazines

Dressed in Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Nike

Looking like a queen

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Richer than Bill Gates and prettier than Disney princesses

I wanna do and be everything, all that I can be

I don’t wanna anything to miss

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And be in love sweeter than Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Silk

I wanna distribute to all the people Dark Fantasy’s choco chips

With glasses of coffee and milk

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And have the caramel voice of Dua Lipa and the intensity of Rihanna and Beyonce

I wanna dress in glittery leotards

And dance on the stage one day

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Fresher than Patanjali, Brighter than diamonds of Tiffany’s

I wanna learn all the languages

From Malyalam to Greek and Japanese

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And write books like JK Rowling

With passion spicier than Lays blue chips

I wanna get my words scribbled in typewriter inks

 

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Ride horses, play saxophone and guitar

I wanna be chased by paparazzi

And shine like the Sirius star

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And make my own library

Read billions of books

And write like Ray Bradbury

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Oh I want it so bad, I have always been

I wanna shake hands with people

Like Blake Lively, Steve Jobs, and Albert Einstein

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And be on the silver screen

Sparkly golds and reds and purples

I wanna write a script, and prestigious Oscars win

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And make everyone the happiest

I wanna see everybody

Living to their fullest, and best

 

I wanna be superstar billionaire

And design a robot with Elon Musk

I wanna meet the President

And share my opinions on how the world works

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

And wanna make my mom-pop proud

I wanna be like Apple and Dove

Always have famous people around

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Oh I want it so bad

But if God has other plans for me

I will be happy, even though a little sad

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire

Oh I want it so bad

I want it more than

All the things I ever had

 

I wanna be a superstar billionaire….

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Dibbuk - The Evil Housekeeper | Diablerie Meaning | Learn Through Storie...

Living in a secluded hilltop house, Nandini, her husband and her son was a happy family. They had been living here for five years. Over time, Nandini had build her art business wherein she created sketches for people and companies. But as orders and commissions started pouring in large numbers, she had no choice but to hire a housekeeper to relieve herself of the household duties. Her husband too remained busy in his bakery business. So they hired a woman named Dibbuk to do the housework. Dibbuk was a charming lady except that there was an evil twitch in her eyes that sometimes frightened Nandini’s son Ashish. One day, both Nandini and her husband were out of the house, attending meetings. They had left Ashish in the care of Dibbuk. Inside the house, Ashish was slumped on a sofa watching television and eating snacks. Outside, thunder was crackling loudly. As stormy clouds gathered, the orange sunset sky turned into dark grey, something that could creep out even the bravest adult. Meanwhile, Dibbuk was cooking dinner for the boy. About two hours later, heavy rain was pouring down from the sky. Both Nandini and her husband had to wait in their offices as it was too difficult to drive their cars in such a gushing rainstorm. When they reached home, it was already 11 pm. Rain had stopped but a light drizzle was still trickling down. As they parked their car in the driveway and unlocked the front door. They were thinking that Dibbuk would have put their son to sleep and locked the door with the spare house key. They stepped inside and walked to Ashish’s bedroom to see if he was sound asleep. But as Nandini entered his room, the boy appeared to be awake. He was sitting on his bed, staring oddly at the wall. She patted his shoulders and suddenly he flew upwards and started screaming in ghostly voices. His parents became worried at his unusual behaviour. Even when they tried to calm him down, he kept on screaming, sometimes even scratching and biting them. His body appeared weak and sweaty, and it seemed something had possessed him. Distressed by this behaviour, Nandini’s husband called a friend who was a priest. The next morning, this priest arrived in their house. Dibbuk was brooming the floor as usual and Ashish was sprawled on the sofa with his eyes open. His eyes were reddened by lack of sleep, yet a monstrous force was disabling him to control himself. The priest looked at the boy and gasped. He told the couple that their son was possessed by a very powerful demon. He rummaged inside his bag and pulled out a string carrying the pendant of a holy bead. As he was about to touch the holy bead to boy’s forehead, the string suddenly slipped from his hands and fell on Dibbuk’s back who was now squatting on the floor, mopping it. As the holy bead came in contact with Dibbuk’s body, she yelled out a deadly shriek. Fire erupted in her body and burned her into ashes. Meanwhile, Ashish revived into his normal personality and soon fell asleep. Everyone was puzzled. But when Nandini, her husband and the priest visited Dibbuk’s house, they were shocked to realize that Dibbuk was not an ordinary woman. She was a worshipper of devil. She extracted children’s souls and sacrificed them on a tree where this demon would gulp the souls down and become more powerful. Dibbuk was diablerie. Diablerie means “sorcery, black magic, or witchcraft connected with devils.”

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Lose Yourself | Poem by Neha's Notebook

As I tread through the field of silence

Where fraids of ghosts hide in the particles of golden-silver dust

A stalk of wild green grass pops its tiny head from the field

And sneers at me, flittering its sinuous lissome body in the windstorm

Lose yourself, it whispers like a Cheshire cat mangling on the trees

 

As the windstorm slaps the field in fiery gushes

It liberates a flurry of echoes that evoke the ghosts hiding below

The stalk of grass bends in the wind and paints a sinister grin in the greying sky

I shiver with fear, for I need to cross this field to reach home

Lose yourself, the ghosts murmur in my sweaty ears, their creepy undertones sending chilling vibrations down my spine

 

Standing at the portal of this field of silence

I am all alone, there is nobody here except for me

And some crackles of eldritch thunder erupting in the darkening sky

No sign of a creature’s breath, just an endless expanse of entities of death

Lose yourself, they say in hushed tones, hovering around my ears

 

Day ends in the night, night ends in the day

I remain where I was, not moving even a single step

Too afraid, of the ghostly voices swirling all around me

Lose yourself, lose yourself, they repeat to me

 

Exhausted and miserable, I surrender myself into the cocoon of the dark night, I fall asleep

All of a sudden something happened that I never expected

The stalks of spooky grass bent themselves to cover me in a warm blanket

The tiny ghosts in the dust bringing food for me

Corn, flowers, fruits, herbs, grains, and some spice seeds

Teary-eyed, I wake up to eat

Feeling love for the ghosts that once frightened me

Lose yourself, I tell myself, as the tiny entities gather around to watch me eat

 

A new day rises from the field, beams of golden sun sparkling on my skin

I stand up with a renewed strength

Only to find the tiny fleet of ghosts collected around me in heaps

The bright sun burned them into mounds of ash

Why this had to happen at the moment just when I found friends in these ghosts, I wonder

Why does nothing stay forever, I think

I weep and weep, even the stalk of the green grass now stands still

Lose yourself, Lose yourself, Lose yourself, the sunshine tells me as I feel the pain of losing my friends

 

I ran and ran, I ran through the field of silence with the speed of the winds

I ran and ran and reached my home, only to find myself weeping even more

I open my scrapbook and paint a stalk of grass, the whispering ghosts and a gash of watery wind

On another page, I paint another stalk of grass, I keep on painting, never to pause

Why does nothing last?

I paint and paint, I paint for evermore

Losing myself at last

In something that makes me forget to snore

 

Lose yourself, lose yourself,

Lose yourself in something somewhere

Feel the pain, feel the pain

But lose yourself in something somewhere

Be a monk, a magician, a wild animal, an elf

Just find something worth losing yourself

Find something worth losing yourself

Lose yourself

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Never give up on love, Never give up on life | Poem by Neha's Notebook

I may spend my life in picking up the sticks you throw at me

I may spend every moment of my life drenched in inner strife

I will take all your pain and give you all my smiles

But I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

I will cross the oceans and climb mountains to bring you joy

I will do all that you desire to be happy, I will even sacrifice

I will witness you laugh and roll and dance in ebullience

Being the gatekeeper, I will pay all the hurtful price

But I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

I will dance in the rain and make you dance with me

I will fill your life with yellows and purples of harmony

I will fill the cracks and voids that life may have left in your heart

I will become a crease in the mist, so sunlight will reach you through me

But I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

I will pedal to the metal, I will knead my knuckles in the dirt

If you need me to change your destiny, your happiness is my purpose

I will not question, not ask you a bit

I will hustle and toil until I awaken love in your heart

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

You may wonder, that I am silly, unwise, or dumb

But the pain in your heart has taught me

To be always optimistic, to never give up

So I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

Even though you may thrash my heart like a pulp beneath your feet

You may throw bricks at my castle, or splash my face in dust

But I will stand up over and over again, looking at you with hope

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

You may be hurt, you may be in pain or shame or rage

You may be struggling yourself in labyrinths of turmoil

I will not add to your plight, I will bow down, not fight

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

 

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

I will never give up on love, I will never give up on life

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Sandy wants to sell burgers | Sedulousness Meaning | Learn Through Stori...

Since his school days, Sandy had a dream. He wanted to open his own food cart on a hilltop and sell hot burgers to people. He worked for years to plan out details about his cart. He had even thought of a name for his cart – “Sandy’s Snackery.” But as he grew older, his businessman father constantly opposed his desire to run a food cart. He told him it would be embarrassing. Each time Sandy approached his father to plead that he wanted to start his cart and sell burgers, his father would refuse his request right away. Contrary to Sandy’s dream, his father had always wanted him to become a superstar. Let alone allow him to sell burgers, his father didn’t even allow him to eat one, because then the oily burgers would sit in his belly and make him fat. And superstars are not supposed to be fat. He made Sandy toil for hours and hours in the gym without letting him relish any junk food. Over many years, Sandy started looking young and handsome. His father’s training was showing off in his looks and his face glowed with a fierce charisma that attracted everyone around him. He even went on to play lead actor in a few movies, some of which won many awards. He was indeed a superstar now. His father was happy and proud. But he was not. His deep-buried dream to open Sandy’s Snackery hadn’t left his mind. Finally, one day, Sandy walked to his father’s office. In a hesitant voice, he asked him if he could open Sandy’s Snackery. His father looked at him for a few minutes, and then erupted in a wild laughter. He patted his son’s shoulders and said “Go ahead!” Sandy’s sedulousness had finally paid off. Sedulousness means “working hard persistently, diligently, steadily with perseverance.”

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Guardian of the Galaxy | Poem by Neha's Notebook

Standing at the crossroads of the world’s puzzling mindscape

I am a geometrical being, the colorful figure of poetry & art

My soul intertwined with that of the universe; my heartbeats aligned

I am the guardian of the galaxy, I govern hearts

 

When the banshees of fear wailed upon my head

Calling my attention to the plights of life

I floundered in my faith, but I kept going, knowing that

I am the guardian of the galaxy, I resolve strife

 

Other times when the bitter trees of rage and wrath

Enveloped me in their claustrophobic venomous tendrils

I choked, I fought, I let the trees throttle my throat

I, the guardian of the galaxy, surrendered, I didn’t even trill

 

But then I caught spark of a flame

A majestic treecutter had set ablaze the venomous tree

As the tree struggled to survive, I struggled to breathe in its grip

Out of the sooty rubbly ash, I rose, the guardian of the galaxy set free

 

I stand nonchalant amidst the hiccups and glitches

In case you’re wondering, then yes, I will take it all upon me

Mercies, melancholies, and murmurs of despise; my battle is with everyone I have ever encountered, but the greatest battle of myself is with me

‘cause I am the guardian of the galaxy, ferocious I ought to be

 

I am always holding the sky on my shoulders

I am never bereft of rumpus and fight

Its tough to be a guardian of the galaxy, and painful

But that’s what brings me the most delight

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Appu’s mom sent him a basket of vegetables | Finicky Meaning | Learn Thr...

Appu was seated on the dining table. The servant served him a bowl of salad Appu’s mom had made. Appu lifted a slice of cucumber with the fork and instantly clipped his mouth, dropping the slice down into the bowl. He asked his mom to remove the cucumber as it was too bitter. His mom removed the cucumber slices and sent the servant with a fresh bowl. Again, Appu dug the fork into the bowl and scooped out an apple slice. He put the apple slice into his mouth and again dropped the half-eaten apple into the bowl. He asked his mom to add another fruit as apple tasted too sweet. Annoyed, his mom removed the apple slices from the salad and sent him another bowl. When Appu looked at the bowl, he instantly pushed it away. He didn’t want to eat boiled potatoes. This time, when he called his mom and asked her to change the salad bowl, his mom became furious at his finicky behavior, and instead sent him the basket of vegetables and fruits to select himself. Finicky means "fussy, not easy to please; too worried about what you eat, wear, etc."

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