If chocolate was a verse...

Life gets sweeter with chocolates Definitely so for a 23yearold poet who is a dentist by profession and has just released a collection of poems titled Ccedilikolata A Bloody Sweet Anthology which includes 33 contributions on lifersquos sugary moments especially chocolateThe Chennaibased bard conceptualised the volume during the second national lockdown In an open global call on social media Dr Muhamed Farhaan asked for submissions on ldquoanything sweet describing sweetness a sweet dish a chocolate a sweet momentrdquo Neither he nor the Notion Press publishers were expecting a barrage of poems The combined effort shows in the 100page anthology with the Turkish title Foreign poets from Croatia Ireland and Bangladesh have united with Indian poets based in diverse settings in Assam Punjab and Goa over chocolate and its accompanying associationsAn enthused Farhaan says that chocolate was a random prompt that came to his mind ldquoIn the past I have written short poems on popular chocolate brandsrdquo His poem on the coveted TobleronemdashPyramids of Egypt are a home to dozens of mummies But this one is a delight to everyonersquos tummiesmdashgot him the chocolate companyrsquos attention The poem won him a panIndia poetry slam contest in 2021 In my earlier selfpublished anthology called Food Is Life poems on sweets were also well received I attracted a sizeable clientele on my Instagram page too so I was further motivatedrdquoFor his anthology he zeroed in on a puzzling Turkish Cikolata and added the tagline lsquobloody sweetrsquo to bring in the specific context of Thalapathy Vijayrsquos upcoming film by the same nameldquoI was happy to work with Notion Press because it allowed me room for experimentationrdquo says Farhaan whose first book was a collection of poems on Chennai the city where he has mostly resided in although his fatherrsquos job did take him to Riyadh in the preschool years After completing his graduation in dental surgery from Chennai he did a correspondence programme in sports dentistry offered by an institute in Pune He pursued hospital administration from Tamil Nadu MGR Medical UniversityCOVID19 was a turning point in Farhaanrsquos life as he used this time to dwell on concepts of connectivity and dialogue His earlier anthologies had brought him in connection with a wider global community of poets Dandelions Multiverse Of Poems involved 66 authors across continents ldquoI love working with people who are not fulltime writers but nurture a soft passionate side to their personality Also the theme of chocolatesweetness found a distinct appeal in the literatirdquo he sharesIndian contributors of the chocolate collection share their individual take on sweetness For instance renowned Panajibased writer Sheela Jaywant brought in the sugarless sanza sheera halwa to the table She feels chocolate is the natural goto dessert which vibes well with every occasion But Farhaanrsquos call for sweet memoriesrelationships made her think of her Shivaji Park childhood She ultimately chose sheera a popular delicacy which has currency in every Indian homeIn her homage to the sugarless dish there is a warningldquoI said this dish was sugarfree didnrsquot say it wasnrsquot sweetItrsquos fit as prasad for the gods where fruit meets broken wheatrdquoHer prep factors in Indian households of all hues ldquoDepending on where yoursquore from you may call it sheera or halwaEaten with poori or plain its base is the same semolinasoojirawardquo Jaywant says she ldquoassociates family bonding with sanza just as youngsters connect immediately with a choco chip cookierdquoOn the lines of Jaywant ldquoMadras girlrdquo Uma Vangal finds sweet bliss in ldquoA Mysore pak rectangle lovingly cut Deep breath hold a piece reverent If there is heaven you are itrdquoFor New Delhibased Indian army veteran Arun Hariharan chocolate is love itself ldquoAs I beheld your face oh so divine Dark sinful chocolate stuck to your lip My mind seemed intoxicated by wine How could my poor heart not sliprdquo Hariharn is known for his bestseller titled A Bakerrsquos Dozen 13 Chilling Indian Tales of MacabreInterestingly for another New Delhi poet Chitra Gopalakrishnan indulgence is defined by a rather rare prep She deliberates on the daulat ki chaat literally meaning a rich snack A cold feathery milkbased delicacy to be savoured only in winter between November and January That too only in the older parts of Delhi where one is ldquowilling to share its secrets with those who seekrdquoTwo prose poems define the anthology rather distinctly Tulip Chowdhury residing in Massachusetts writes about sweets from her homeland friends or relatives bringing sweets from shops at the Shahjalah International Airport in the capital DhakaTaghrid Bou Merhi a Lebanese poetess writer and translator living in Brazil writes a short story about little girl Lilyrsquos failed but fun attempts to make choco truffles for her motherrsquos birthdayFor me the anthology was eyeopening because I have often eaten chocolates with a tinge of guilt I have read about the cardiovascular benefits of chocolates particularly its antioxidant properties But I have worried about the sugar intake in rich creamy chocolates In this anthology chocolates are pure joy with no downside The editor and four more dentists who have glorified the chocolate joy have a different lens They cherish it as enigmatic allure and want the readerto play alongSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom