Sometimes all you seek out is a quaint peaceful green nook to ring in the New Year..and all we did was snuggle up to it.
The year has kicked off on a rainy refreshing note already! Yup, it rained here in Dubai land, the whole of yesterday. And today the weather is just heavenly. *breaks into a twist dance with her two left feet*
And while the weather is favourable, I think the time is right to make some resolutions.
To start with, I plan to shed some kilos off me, that I have accumulated especially in the last few days that I went visiting home. I have no particular target, but I guess a good 3-4 months should be a doable period to reduce some 3-4 kgs? Let’s see..
Read more books. Oh I have already set this particular resolution in motion by picking up some good books from Bombay and downloading a few more on my Kindle. Now its just a matter of setting out on a reading spree with them. Hopefully it should be a good ride.
Learn new recipes, at least 3. Now the year gone by hasn’t been all that exciting in terms of my culinary skills. Not that I am an expert at it, but I do like to indulge in some baking and cooking when an occassion demands or I am in a charitable mood to attempt my experiments on R & Namnam. So off I go on a delicious quest for some food blogs!
Revive my music, not limit myself to listening to any particular kind, sing more often, and keep my vocal chords from dying a slow death 😀
Unpack the luggage in the next one dayweek month…starting from from the next minute!!
Hope you all had a refreshing start to the year as well! 🙂
The year didnt disappoint, I can say that for sure :). It has largely been a memorable year for us. And I’m deeply grateful to God for that.
In fact, to be honest, I sort of hoped that this year would move past at a more leisurely pace so I could take in all the positive vibes and joyous moments that the year has had to offer me and my family.
But the year seems to have gone by in a flash! And I haven’t even had the time to let these moments sink in. Or have I? Am I getting greedy? My heart craves for more such moments.
When I think of the tough and draining 2011, I shudder!
Right then I feel blessed when I realize how so beautifully has this year made up for all the depressing times of the previous one.
And now, its that time of the year again when I have the same nagging sense of unsurity slowly creeping inside me.
Am I ready to say goodbye to this year yet?
Can I not hold on to it for some more time?
Will all the good moments lived and cherished in this year be carried forward to the next year?
Will the happiness last for years to come or will it be short-lived?
Will the coming year unfold for us things that we may not have prepared or asked for?
Just when these moping thoughts begin to needle me, my mind drifts away to look for some positivity around. And I realize that I dont have to go very far. Because this also is the time of the year that brings a smile on my face..
for everything looks so beautiful and festive..
for the weather is so nippy, cheering me up every time a soft breeze brushes my cheeks..
for my plants look so happy when they wish me each morning with their freshest blooms…
for I feel ever so kicked up to pick up a book to read..
for I feel ever so driven to scribble something( even if gibberish), to give free passage to the words brewing inside me…
Uncertainty because theres always a sense of jitteriness about what the future may hold, and hope because, despite the uncertainty, there is this unfailing hope that everything will be fine….just fine. Although I have no control over life’s unpredictability, there’s this want to start the new year with a fresh perspective, on a happy note, all the while telling myself that the coming year will have far better things to offer than the previous one.
This year in particular being a little rough on me and my family, what with the surgeries and constant health-scares to have plagued my parents, the anticipation of what’s in store for me in the coming year is even more so.
Yet, this is one time of the year when I feel extremely positive because it is such a beautiful time of the year, isnt it? Everything- from the lovely weather to the wide array of festivals to the smiling faces of people to the well-illuminated houses to the beautiful decorations adorning all the malls and roads, not to mention the promotional-flyers of supermarkets and malls finding a space in between the sheets of my newspaper every other day alerting me of their festive offers and sales-every single thing seems to cheer me on towards staying positive, staying happy :).
When, R & Namnam geared up to set up the christmas tree a few days back, what set me thinking was how little it mattered that we didnt follow the religion that normally was associated with christmas. What mattered was how symbolic the festival was with happiness and cheer. In fact a friend and I were even discussing about how this was one of those festivals which transcends religion, caste and creed…how over the years, it had come to mean more about staying happy, spreading joy and being hopeful of better things to come than the birthday of Jesus Christ.
In this world where there are diverse religions, festivals are occassions which reiterate their co-existense.
When my Punjabi friend comes upto me to wish “Happy Onam’ or when I hug my Arab friend to wish her,’ Eid Mubarak’ or when an American joins his Sikh friend to burst crackers on Diwali, or when, in an Islamic country like Qatar, I find malls and retaurants beautifully decorated with christmas trees and stars or when I find ‘konnappoo‘ being sold in shops around Vishu
Konnappoo (image courtesy Google Images)
it makes me realize how beautifully religions can co-exist in this world. How we can respect each other’s religion without having to compromise on our ideologies and beliefs.
And this is the time of the year when I miss being home the most for I know how beautifully festive my city looks all around. In fact the yearning to fly down to soak in the festivities starts to creep inside me much earlier…when the second half barely trickles in. With so many festivals lined up one after the other my heart fills with so much of happiness that as the year closes in, more than feeling sad about bidding the current year goodbye, I find greater joy in looking forward to the coming year with more fervour.
On that note leaving you with our Christmas tree and heartfelt wishes that the coming year will have loads of joy and happiness in store for you and your loved ones 🙂
Wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy & a blessed New Year 🙂
Perceptions 