Ingredients For Love

Ingredients for Love is a Valentine’s Day special anthology that celebrates love in its many textures—tender and tempestuous, playful and profound, fleeting and forever. Love, as these pages reveal, is never a single emotion or a perfect recipe; it is a careful mixing of moments, memories, courage, and vulnerability.

This collection brings together voices that speak of love beyond clichés. Here, love is found in quiet sacrifices, unfinished conversations, friendships that blur into something more, self-love earned after long battles, and even heartbreaks that teach us how deeply we can feel. Each contribution is an ingredient—distinct on its own, yet richer when blended with others.

As the compiler, I have had the privilege of curating stories and poems that do not merely celebrate romance, but honor the human need to connect. Across different lives, cultures, and experiences, a shared truth emerges: love is not about perfection, but presence. It is about showing up, again and again, even when certainty wavers.

In a world that often rushes past emotion, this Valentine’s Day offering invites you to slow down, to savour each word, and to rediscover love in its honest, unguarded form. May these pages warm your heart, stir reflection, and remind you that love—when shared—multiplies.

With gratitude and affection,
—Dr. Riddhima Bose