I'd rather be a child than an adult

People often say that it is important to have a happy childhood. I totally agree.

When you are sad, you can think of all the happy times you spent as a child, the stress-free days, the ice lollies, the merry-go-round, the laughter and giggles, the yummy treats and feats, the fun holidays, those summer holidays and all the pampering, laddoos, mangoes, train journeys...oh the works! It's definitely a mood lifter. And when you are happy, like I am at this point, these chocolate coated memories simply make you happier. :)

One such memory that I tried to relive today, on a beautiful March Sunday is that of my pa making audio tapes for me. Yes, he made tapes for me of tracks that he loved and tracks that he thought I'd like. May be when he was a bachelor, he would visualise himself as a father who would sing along with these tracks playing in the background and copy them for his lovely little daughter who sat looking at him in awe. May be when he actually made those tapes, he lived his own little dream!

So, ya the childhood memory that is so precious to me. Today as my daughter went to my parents' house for the weekend, I sat alone in my room looking at the beautiful lush garden, sipping some tea and listening to a few select retro tracks. These songs/tunes/compositions, whenever they perch on my ears, instantly transport me back in time and I find myself seated on a puny couch (big enough for me then) looking at my father who carefully picked his LPs and timed each track and the pauses that would go in-between two tracks (yes he paid a lot of attention to such details, he is an engineer from IIT after all), the flowing curtains, the rustling eucalyptus trees and a soft gentle breeze. It's a beautiful vision, still so vivid. Sigh! :)

The tracks were 'Lara's theme', 'Moon river', 'Love story', 'Angelo', 'Star on a Tv show' and 'You are beautiful' by The Stylistics, 'We are the world', 'I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail' by I-forget-the-name, and of course ABBA and The Carpenters. All classics and absolutely melodious. I heard some of them today and my heart filled with love..love of a different kind. I can't describe it really, but if you are a daughter who has shared a special moment with your father as a kid,  and it could be something totally different than this, like playing in the fields, or cycling up the mountains or washing the car together; you will know how I feel.

Thanks pa, for the tapes and this sweet memory!

marriage

i have had this blog for quite some time now without any posts of course, because i couldn't seem to figure out how to start writing. initially, i had thought i would use ths blog to rant about all the problems, fights that i had with my husband. i felt that would be a little therapeutic, all the venting out etc., but somehow it just didn't seem right. my husband and i do fight, more than ever now, but the bitterness kind of vanishes very quickly and i am filled with love for him all over again, very quickly. so, i waited. waited for the right time to start blogging, on a happy note.


So this first post on my blog is on a day when a beautiful couple i know celebrate their 6th wedding anniversary. their love story is a very mughal-e-azam kind of story, with lot of drama and struggle as the girl had a tough time convincing her parents to let her marry the love of her life.


When I woke up today morning and remembered it was their anniversary, I was instantly reminded of a quote from a hollywood film "Shall we dance". the quote beautifully explains the simplicity of a marriage.


Beverly Clark: We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one's life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'." 


I just love the last line. it's a such a simple act of just witnessing somebody's life and in a marriage, we do this out of love not as a duty. It's such an unconscious, effortless thing, yet so amazingly deep. I mean, what does anyone want, but to have someone loving in their life, who notices everything they do.


As i write this post, I can think of yet another quote from yet another film, "Good Will Hunting". I am not sure how many of you have watched the film and i don't know if you have seen the film, you have noticed this particular quote/dialogue. 


“Sean: My wife used to fart when she was nervous. She had all sorts of wonderful little idiosyncrasies. She used to fart in her sleep. I thought I’d share that with you. One night it was so loud it woke the dog up. She woke up and went ‘ah was that you?’ And I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Oh!
Will: She woke herself up?
Sean: Ah...! But Will, she’s been dead for 2 years, and that's the shit I remember: wonderful stuff you know? Little things like that. Those are the things I miss the most. The little idiosyncrasies that only I know about: that's what made her my wife. Oh she had the goods on me too, she knew all my little peccadilloes. People call these things imperfections, but there not. Ah, that's the good stuff."


My husband farts in his sleep too, and when i tease him by calling him the official pollutant in the room, he says he is ambipur; the room freshner brand, spreading lovely fragrance even while asleep!


His little idiosyncrasies, that's what make him my husband.


:)