Cheers to that!

While I raise toasts to the year gone by and the year that we are going to embark on with highly philosophical undertones (read the last post here) I thought of listing down some snatches from the year gone by.

Happy times, memories that will last for a long time....

• Falling in love, it’s beautiful for the time it does last. The butterflies in the stomach, the anticipation, the wait, the long conversations, coffee cups that get empty hour after hour, sunsets that have a whole different meaning, the little touch, the stolen glances, the queasy feeling, the way so many things are said without saying a word. Falling in love, it is beautiful. Falling out or breaking up is memorable in its own way. Suddenly there is a different queasiness, butterflies in the stomach like the ones you get during maths exams, words that never come out and just stay stuck in your head, eyes that never meet again to say anything else.Love in any form remains memorable for the extremeness it takes us to. And for that extremeness this year takes the cake.
  

• Traveling abroad for the first time (does Nepal and setting one foot in Pakistan at the border count?!!) if someone tells me that it doesn’t excite them that they are setting foot abroad for the first time then I will laugh at their face because it’s a big lie. I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t been super excited to land in another country, stare in awe at the swanky airport and exclaim, WTF under their breath. Anyhow, I exclaimed a big WTF when I entered an immigration window for the first time because I was troubled by Visa officers for some crap. All I could think at that time was this - ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’! LOL

• Spending time with Reyankh, seeing him grow from a little tiny thing to a person that walks and kind of talks!                                                                                                                                                  I would look at him when he was around me and think that kids should never grow up. But every day I would wait for him to do something new. The day he painted his face with lipstick or when he painted all the walls in the house and we painted along with him remain memories that will last a lifetime. With him emerged three more children and one adult - My poor brother who spent time controlling the extravagance of affection towards our bundle of joy just so that he doesn't end up a brat (which mind you means utter rubbish when it comes to nephews and grandchildren, that advice is for other peoples naughty kids!)

• Friends – losing some and gaining some. Some that grew with time and some that came and went like they never ever even were. 

• Evenings at coffee day watching the world go by. And few evenings at Zen cafe(I just love that place)
  

• Almost all the Saturday evenings this year spent at the farm! 
  

• The night I got my tattoo
  

• This time in Bombay when J and I sat on Bandstand for an hour and we hardly spoke, we just stared at the sea and some weird couples doing weird things! and then we laughed so hard that we cried
  

• My weekend trips to Bombay which now always start with breakfast at JATC, a ritual of cheese omelets, bacon, sausages, waffles and coffee (BLISS)
  

• An evening that was spent playing darkroom after 20 years!
  

• The day I bought my short denim skirt, it was liberating in a way that requires another post to explain its depth 
  

• Rediscovering painting out of the blue and making some awesome paintings!
  

• The day the blog was compared to Tuesdays with Morrie, actually every time someone clicks on a ‘like’ button on my blog FB link or comments on the post it makes it memorable for me. (so please do this more often !)
  

• Mastering the art of making Khow Suey, for which I remain the undisputable queen!
  

• M’s wedding for several reasons – Chandigarh (a city I have come to adore), winter, re-discovering chai, the opulence of a Punjabi wedding which I miss in this city (the aunties and uncles, the rich food, the servants running around, marigold flowers, dholak and funny songs, the dancing, the drinking, the drinking, the drinking, the drinking !!!.... )
  

• S and K’s wedding for making me remember that good things do happen. I have probably never been so happy for two people at the same time!
  

• Christmas lunch for the realization of the beauty of friendship that evolves through so many different levels to become one that is held by strong hands of destiny and probably on some beautiful plane stays on forever
  

• Painting my poster wall (which now is gone because we painted the whole house) :(
  

• The day my bank account reached a desired figure, it’s not much but its mine. 
  

I know there’s probably so much more which I can’t remember right now. I would love to hear some snatches from the readers and what made this year memorable.

Write in and let me know, maybe I will remember some more!

Till then, as a very good friend signs off and I borrow this one from him, Cheers to life!