New Year '23

It had been an eventful 2022. I got married! It took me 6 months to prepare for the when, the where, the whose-who & the how of it. And then, just in a blink and 4 days, I got married to the love of my life.

I feel so grateful, for life to be this generous to me. I wish though, I expressed it more often. Spending a lifetime with a person who likes you for who you are is not just a gift, but also a part of our purpose. 

Getting married changed things for me. Initially, I was hit by the inertia that had set everything in motion and I found myself rolling along with it, hitting one corner to the other. Suddenly I had to be the most responsible and perfect married woman out there. And I could only see myself failing. Making home cooked dinners was something I always wanted to do, and so was getting full authority over the kitchen. But I found that I was much slower than I liked and couldn't find time for anything else after it. I was also unable to maintain a squeaky clean house, albeit a balcony garden, like the one I always wanted. And through this all, I became devoid of much needed time for myself, as I found myself juggling between work and home, shifting priorities and delaying tasks.

This year, more than anything I realised the importance of patience. Of living for the day. Little by little, gradually putting in efforts to things you like and want to do. Of appreciating a slow life, which however busy on the outside, has a daily rhythm to it, that makes it peaceful. 

And thus, with a lot of coaxing from my husband, I sought help. While I still made the dinners, I had someone else to help with the chopping, the roti-making & the post cooking-cleaning. And with that one thing, it felt like we got our feet off the pedal, and paused to see the stars. Though I haven't still perfected managing everything, I learnt that at times its okay to admit your limitations and take a practical approach to life.

It was also an year of travel. Between my home in Bhopal and my new home in Lucknow, we spent our first weeks of married life, in Mussoorie, scootering around the deodar lined roads, winding through one breathtaking view to other. And then we spent a very rainy weekend in Mumbai, in a beautiful BnB filled with ferns and philodendrons. 

It was this trip that changed my prejudice for a sunny beach forever, thanks to Jayant, who decided we had to go and see the Juhu beach after a day of stuffing ourselves with Berry Pulav at Jimmy Boy. Walking through that torrid song of a rain, as the sky turned purple and the clouds grey, I watched the kids playing cricket at the beach run, as the four of us, ran towards the path to the ocean. We were drenched, had our feet covered in mud and the wind turned our umbrellas inside out, as there was no escaping from this beautiful agony of nature. On our way back, we saw the huge balconies of the magnificent bungalows having private exits to the beach and wondered how much money could buy that view. Starstruck and exhausted, we went to Grandmama's cafe and ordered one entree to another, one dessert after the other until the waiter got bored of us.

And then finally, we spent some time welcoming our beautiful niece in Coonoor. The valleys of Nilgiris were softer, and not as dramatic as the ones we had seen in Mussoorie, but they were all clad in flowers. I loved collecting these wildflowers and pine cones to make a bouquet for the dining table on some mornings. And driving through the mist covered roads across tea estates, stopping for orange tea or hot chocolate on the other. 

Recollecting these beautiful memories is part of my process to express gratitude for the wonderful year I had. And writing them down as a medium is a conscious effort to take it slow. 

For this year, I want to continue being grateful to each beautiful day, and learning to make it more meaningful. I will be focusing on the following things to help achieve that - 
1) Lesser screen time.

2) Setting a daily schedule.

3) Being patient through the unknowns in life.

Oatmeals & Lemon tea,
XOXO

- T