Last year, I thought I should wrap up this tradition. 14 years was a right number, the end of the 'vanvaas', so to say.
But this blog hardly gets updated, and at least this tradition allows me to step back into this long forgotten space, sweep away the cobwebs, dust it up a bit and take a little walk down nostalgia lane, when life was simpler, I was younger and I could crib here about my single status and sneer at all the lovey-dovey couple posting mushy romantic stuff on their Facebook page.
Little did I know that I would end up being one of 'those' folks. Life has a way of gradually turning you into the very people you mock in your youth.
On that wistful note, let me try my hand at this year's edition...
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As I look back and wonder how long it has been
That I have been whining for more than fifteen
And I realize that kids who were not even born
When I first started, will now be eating popcorn
With their girlfriends in a theatre, waiting for a 'scene'...
And if you think realizing that makes me feel really really old,
Yes, sometimes my joints creak, even in Mumbai's mild cold,
But the more things change, the more they remain the same,
I remind myself that I may lose but I can still play the game,
Because in life, you call or you raise, but you never ever fold!
And as we complete two whole years of this boring 'stay-at-home'
The virus wrecks our plans to go visit London, Paris, and Rome
All we can do is reminisce about the mountain lake in Bergen
Or about the translation of that Russian hostel lady and her gun
Is there a German word for this 'wanting to travel' syndrome?
Because what is love, but the memories we collect together
Of remembering all the silly things I did just to-get-her
It is also about wanting to continue to create newer memories
Like 'pasta without shrimp' and 'breakfasts of only berries'
Of inside jokes and secrets that make sense only to each other
Love is joking to folks that you have forgotten how to ride a bike
And going on a walking tour, but cribbing about the 10 hour hike
Waking up tired the next day and going for another long, scenic route
And then wrapping up with a dinner of reindeer and pureed beetroot
And wondering later which is the veg dish, since they both look alike!
Love is sleeping through dinner time, and having just carrot cake
And also 'birthday special' trips to a hotel overlooking a lake
But love is not just about fancy trips but the daily routine stuff too
It is about how you care for me, and the little things that you do
Like worrying when I wheeze, and the medicines you insist I take...
Some wise old man said the older you become, the wiser you get
Even if you mostly tend to ramble a lot and most things you forget
But nothing beats the feeling of being young, and walking a mile
Just in the hope of catching your eye, and sharing a silent smile
Even the wise old men would like to rewind the clock, I bet...
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PS: And like every year, I hope to get away by writing some crappy rhyme in place of a nice shiny gift...
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