The change of Seasons

Winters cold fingers seem to be slipping away and the air is so much warmer & the evening brighter.

Last Evening I sat on a park bench (Its been a awhile since I could do that) and browsed through some of my old notes enjoying the wind, sound, and smells. Slowly darkness fell and the full moon peered through the trees looking spectacular.

Today I went out for a long walk and it was just wonderful to feel the fresh air on my face, hear the sound of kids playing, see the trees rustle with joy announcing that warmer days are coming. I wished I could take a deep breath and just hold it all in!

I remember at the start of winter when darkness covered us all in the early evening I wondered how I would get through the months ahead. Having lived close to the equator all my life this was my first winter! Turned out that Winter had its own delights to offer.

My heart flys high in celebration of the winter gone by and the expereinces it brought into my life and in anticipation of Spring to come! :)

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . No thoughts to write, just a gleeful joy within that I want to share and I know you rejoice!

Shopping

For as long as I can remember my Mom and me have always enjoyed going out shopping together. Be it for vegetables, groceries, or clothes & accessories or just window shopping. We would take our bags gleefully say goodbye to my Dad and spend hours together shopping and the time always seemed to fly by!

We used to visit a crammed market place every week for fresh vegetables and I loved carrying the bags for her and smiling at the folks we had to come know with time. I enjoyed watching her browse through products she would meticulously analyze before buying when we go grocery shopping.

Clothes shopping was fun! We would always look for pretty things at affordable prizes, try them on and make absolutely sure we wanted to get them. Mum always encouraged me to be adventurous and try new colours and fits because I could be stale at times. Most of the time the staff in the shop would look at us so curiously because she would be more than happy to get me more than I want and I would argue and literally fight that I dint really need it. Well ultimately she would win and convince me to get it and I would be glad I did. The perfect way to end shopping trips was with a fashion show for my dad who was the privileged audience cum judge who got to approve all we bought. :)

Time has taken me thousands of miles from home and shopping has now become a routine trip I do by myself most of the time. Its different but I have learnt to enjoy that too.

This weekend however she happened to call me when I was in the Mall shopping for some gifts for family and friends. We got to walk through the stores virtually together. I was talking with her about the things I was seeing and we talked about it and decided who we could get it for…. In the evening we got on video chat and I decided to do a parade all the things I got!

It was fun and it brought back memories of our shopping trips together. It was one of those simple mum & daughter things that I’ll always cherish.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Teach me to always make time for the simple things in life that help us to build bonds and appreciate relationships.

Thou Shall Tease

There are few people I have met in my life who have a sense of good natured humour. One such person I have come to know who we shall call Mister M has this unique ability. The most redundant, humdrum things in a day become lively when Mister M is around... Needless to say people tend to flock around him!

I have watched M over the months and am amazed at how this spirit of laughter is consistently part of him. Be it a busy day, a boring day, a long day, a taxing day or just a normal day one can trust Mister M to remain in good humour.

For example a couple of weeks ago, a few of us went to this concert which turned out to be shockingly different from what we expected. I was ready to run out of the doors the first interval but not with Mister M. He made us sit there and laugh and enjoy the whole deal and I came home that night laughing till my sides hurt! What could have been a barely bearable evening turned out to be an enjoyable entertaining evening after all!

I admit humour is a natural gift which some have and some like Mister M posses in an abundant quantity and then there are others (like me) who love to laugh but are not always the ones who make others laugh. Perhaps we randomly make efforts but know that it is not necessarily "our thing".

Recently i decided to challenge that and try to consciously put an effort into "teasing" & making the people I talk to laugh. And you know something i am surprised by how I (Yes I!) could find so many silly things to say and make conversations so much more enjoyable! Between I also realized it takes a lot of effort to keep others in mind despite your work, your thoughts, your worries and your deadlines so you can make people around you laugh.

Am still an armature at this but Hey World this is just a salute to Mister M and others like Mister M out there. Also to folks like me please do lighten up and lets try not to take ourselves or others too seriously too much of the time! ;)

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Help me to learn to remain in good humour through the best and worst times of life.