Let It Be

I was listening to the old Beatles song yesterday,'When i am in times of trouble, Mother Mary come to me.Speaking Words of Wisdom..Let it be ..'
If u think about it ,in times of trouble we do our full faith rituals ..but what of the happy times?
So this blog is dedicated to happy memories..thankful memories which tend to get forgotten during the monsoon of our lives.

The '80

1. The smell of burning leaves in a cobbly, cantonment town.
2. Playing Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty at the age of 3 and 4 in pre-school
3. The soft comforting feel of a worn out sari which used to belong to my didu.
4. My great-grand aunt's stories of people repaying debts with mangoes, her photo with gandhiji , peacocks in her dad's courtyard in Bangaladesh which were gobbled up by the 'did not know better ' farmers..mystical stories of a bygone era.
5. The first taste of Rose Cookies, Christmas Cake and Beef Vindaloo - my nana's wrinkled hands as she blew my always stuffy blocked nose.
6. The fusion of flood waters in the drawing room and khichdi in the kitchen
7. George Michael ,Tom Cruise and Amir Khan smiling down from the walls every morning
8. Summer holidays which streched into afternoons with curtains drawn, hot and sour imli pickle and discovering different worlds through borrowed frayed library books
9. Perfecting a dance movement so ....that the guruji, raised his hand in appreciation
10. The message of sex.....on an afternoon which had been dedicated to Retreat Time for a bunch of Catholic girls

The '90's

1. Becoming a person, acquiring a sence of self not of purpose.
2. Getting lost in a pasture with my papa...him playing on his blues harp..the sound of silence
3. The discovery of communism and intellectuals..sence of bonhomie amongst corridoors of musty libraries and ancient colleges
4. The Threatre-finding friends among fellow actors, living life as if it would never end ..the exaltation of losing oneself in the greater belief of friendship
5. Standing on stage with a 300 member audiance listening in silence. Weeping and for just that moment.... believing in your pain.
6. Sitting on the lawns of an institution of radicals , discovering professors who were so much hipper than you were
7. Cold mornings, hot coffee and endless marches for liberal rights , gay rights, children, for the poor , for the helpless , for yourself
8. Simon and Garfuncle,in the twilight hour, the celebration of knowledge , exchange, dialogue of ideas ..the whirl of the imagination....the sweet toke.
9. The discovery of the Big O ....stoned

The 20'00

1. The excitement of living in a mighty city by the sea, which never slept
2. Sitting on the parapet of an 14 story building..and looking at the twinkling stars below and the ships beyond
3. The discovery of night life, endless escapades of being and non being,validation from your first corporate presentation
4. Being able to fine tune ' falling in love' into a fine art form.Wandering aimlessly, not understanding but trying to fathom high art and high fashion
5. Yacht parties, champagne brunches, muharat openings, agency gigs...& diwali nights at the stock exchange when endless crackers lit up the hopes of investment bankers ,sharebrokers and the gambling nowhere man
6. Impromtu drunken holidays, spending salaries by the 15th of the month, the thrill of being employable,the sweet disovery of money and all the wonder that it can buy you
7. Insitutionalised Sex , fairy tale weddings and going back home,excitement of being a new bride in an old city...Being able to escape institutionalised sex
8. Growing into an adult long after adulhood had passed me by
9. Losing a father, a husband ..losing dependance ,Discovering the strength of standing still in the quiet of a storm
10. Finding life after losing faith.. Building a home with blues and malhar, a gnarled old rainforest tree..and new curtains.