It was surreal, when the sun went down, last few of its rays , embracing blue mountains and tall oak trees. In midst of the whispering winds , one could almost hear sun making a promise to come back tomorrow.We stood still , all three of us , soaking the time in its glory .
There are a few moments , in our lives , which break the monotony, we are living in and become memories . While accepting the new normal of living , my heart goes back to these again and again , may be to relive the sheer joy or derive strength and energy from them.
This beautiful sunset was a memory from an all girls trip. I could best compare it to reading a long forgotten book again, turning the pages , finding lost book marks and dog ears on parts you loved, laughed with, felt the pain , unraveling deepest of emotions in a short time .
Does the friendship also grows as we age or is it the one who keeps us young ?
Living the formative years together has bought us on the same page on small but important things such as therapeutic effect of shopping -the retail therapy or the 10 PM deadline to call it a night! or the importance of getting the picture clicked , even if the photographer is a tired hotel guest passing by or a disappointed steakhouse sever who just realized , we are there for just the picture and not going to eat at the restaurant .Though we dd quiz her on the menu for vegetarian options!! Its the thing you can only do it with your friends . Am I right or Am I right? It should be a MUST item on the checklist of having Fun!..There was also an instance , when one of us flaunted the skirt she was wearing and the lady in the shop complimenting on it, but I would rather not comment more on it:).
Then how easily the leg pulling and giggling transformed to a heart to heart, fire side chat . The conversations drifted to relationships, family, the insecurities and glimpses of inner strength. It was so good to pause and reflect at the journeys to see how far ,we all had come in our lives.
Then , there are memories of the trip with another set of friends , which never happened or may be happens too often.If I have to choose some people,who give me the feeling of being home , a feeling of strong belonging, its with these girls. Its like, when we are together the time travels back and we are the same school girls again minus the pigtails(Though I could totally make it a theme for the next one ). When we are together "where" seizes to matter . Its the same warmth of "Fateh sagar wali coffee" which binds even if its a virtual meeting or its the actual paaal.
I can go on and on about struggles or wins at work , to new leaf shoots on my new plants or what new my 8 year old is doing or even Hubby's mango colored hat :) . We take personal , professional advice from one another and can totally be mimicking them the next. When we grow old , its these friends, whom I will become mischievous with and pull each others' walking sticks or may be hide each others specs or dentures and then make fun! . We will absolutely, tease each other about the childhood crushes when we will be 80.
While , we are travelling , there is another one which I want to take again and again. It was the trip from Bangalore to Ooti and S went to about 5 dvd shops to get the perfect print of DDLJ because of course its my favorite movie, to play in the bus we took. A mushy gesture , but it just stayed with me over the years :). I love him for making that happen. May be he can outdo himself by buying diamonds sometime or will he Naaah!!!!! . Now he has my heart , if he eats healthy ! and does not play loud music in the living room.
How can I forget the special 4th july weekend, which was spent in pursuit of a road where there is sea on both sides. We travelled about 200 miles and took a ferry never realizing that its taking us about 400 miles from home !. We were 5 adults and a 1.5 year old with absolutely no things or food and no plants to spend the 2 nights away from home !. It was still one of the most beautiful trips I had . The sheer joy of watching my toddler nephew getting excited seeing the dolphins !. He was elated on the ferry , jumping with joy going up and down the stairs . That smile is etched in my memory . We had so much fun going shopping the first thing waking up in the morning!! Did we get to drive on the seaside drive?? ha ha we didn't even care !
Times like current , with no weekend plans, no upcoming trips make us relish the small joys which are filling the heart in a big way . May be its a wake up call to think and redefine "essential' for us. For me it will be overcoming the fears which grip the mind and reach out to this book of memories , more often .
There are a few moments , in our lives , which break the monotony, we are living in and become memories . While accepting the new normal of living , my heart goes back to these again and again , may be to relive the sheer joy or derive strength and energy from them.
This beautiful sunset was a memory from an all girls trip. I could best compare it to reading a long forgotten book again, turning the pages , finding lost book marks and dog ears on parts you loved, laughed with, felt the pain , unraveling deepest of emotions in a short time .
Does the friendship also grows as we age or is it the one who keeps us young ?
Living the formative years together has bought us on the same page on small but important things such as therapeutic effect of shopping -the retail therapy or the 10 PM deadline to call it a night! or the importance of getting the picture clicked , even if the photographer is a tired hotel guest passing by or a disappointed steakhouse sever who just realized , we are there for just the picture and not going to eat at the restaurant .Though we dd quiz her on the menu for vegetarian options!! Its the thing you can only do it with your friends . Am I right or Am I right? It should be a MUST item on the checklist of having Fun!..There was also an instance , when one of us flaunted the skirt she was wearing and the lady in the shop complimenting on it, but I would rather not comment more on it:).
Then how easily the leg pulling and giggling transformed to a heart to heart, fire side chat . The conversations drifted to relationships, family, the insecurities and glimpses of inner strength. It was so good to pause and reflect at the journeys to see how far ,we all had come in our lives.
Then , there are memories of the trip with another set of friends , which never happened or may be happens too often.If I have to choose some people,who give me the feeling of being home , a feeling of strong belonging, its with these girls. Its like, when we are together the time travels back and we are the same school girls again minus the pigtails(Though I could totally make it a theme for the next one ). When we are together "where" seizes to matter . Its the same warmth of "Fateh sagar wali coffee" which binds even if its a virtual meeting or its the actual paaal.
I can go on and on about struggles or wins at work , to new leaf shoots on my new plants or what new my 8 year old is doing or even Hubby's mango colored hat :) . We take personal , professional advice from one another and can totally be mimicking them the next. When we grow old , its these friends, whom I will become mischievous with and pull each others' walking sticks or may be hide each others specs or dentures and then make fun! . We will absolutely, tease each other about the childhood crushes when we will be 80.
While , we are travelling , there is another one which I want to take again and again. It was the trip from Bangalore to Ooti and S went to about 5 dvd shops to get the perfect print of DDLJ because of course its my favorite movie, to play in the bus we took. A mushy gesture , but it just stayed with me over the years :). I love him for making that happen. May be he can outdo himself by buying diamonds sometime or will he Naaah!!!!! . Now he has my heart , if he eats healthy ! and does not play loud music in the living room.
How can I forget the special 4th july weekend, which was spent in pursuit of a road where there is sea on both sides. We travelled about 200 miles and took a ferry never realizing that its taking us about 400 miles from home !. We were 5 adults and a 1.5 year old with absolutely no things or food and no plants to spend the 2 nights away from home !. It was still one of the most beautiful trips I had . The sheer joy of watching my toddler nephew getting excited seeing the dolphins !. He was elated on the ferry , jumping with joy going up and down the stairs . That smile is etched in my memory . We had so much fun going shopping the first thing waking up in the morning!! Did we get to drive on the seaside drive?? ha ha we didn't even care !
Times like current , with no weekend plans, no upcoming trips make us relish the small joys which are filling the heart in a big way . May be its a wake up call to think and redefine "essential' for us. For me it will be overcoming the fears which grip the mind and reach out to this book of memories , more often .
Nice Shilpa, keep writing ....
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written !
ReplyDeleteThanks Neha! I am glad.
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