New Year’s Eve — A time to cherish, relish, and reminisce

Once again, it’s that time of the year where people set an OoO, clear out their desks, clink glasses and relish a piece of cake. It’s that time of the year where people buy diaries, fancy pens, sticky notes and a calendar to hang on the bedroom wall. It’s that time of the year where people build a new protagonist for their stories and start equipping the little guy already. It’s that time of the year when families, friends come together and call it…a year

Before we start off on another lap of the race(again), can we set aside the impulse to begin anew for a few minutes, pause and re-live?

When I ponder, it just feels like yesterday when I cut the cake at home, saw those colorful rockets in the sky, wished random people ‘a happy new year’ on the street at 12 and slept like a baby. But, sitting on my chair, closing my eyes and taking a long pause, delving deeper into the memory lane it’s been ‘a year’ to go on the books. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same for you :)

Have you ever found it difficult to fall asleep?
If yes, you’d know that people deal with it a million ways. Some meditate, some try turning a few pages of a book, some trouble a loved one who’s asleep, some exercise, some take a hot water bath and some people just stare at the ceiling, reliving the day, rethinking the conversations they’ve had during the day, the food they ate, the people they talked to, the annoying boss cause of whom they had to sleep late, the client who pushed the deadline, the maid who took the day off and so on. And everything seems mundane, life seems perpetual. This might lead you to think that nothing’s changed majorly. It’s the same old job, same old people and the same old routine, a quotidian life.

But, I believe the beauty of something reveals itself once you change the perspective. And let me give you one. For a minute, can you forget your conclusions and view your entire 2023 from a unique vantage point? It’s tough to articulate the outlook I’m trying to put forth but in simpler words..

“Zoom in on some of the moments that seemed absolutely usual and place it as a piece of a super huge puzzle “

Zoom in on the first day you started working, on the first project that you turned into a debacle, the kid that smiled that you while you were in line at the supermarket, the biryani you relished all alone watching a movie under some cozy blankets on a Friday night, the tight hug you gave a friend you met after the covid year, the workout that almost killed you but made you feel more alive than ever post it, the pretty sunsets and the prettier(fewer) sunrises you’ve watched, the time where you brought clouds to life by imagining them to be something apart from big, white, amorphous floating pieces in the sky, the childhood friend you met after years and still found that sparkle in a second, the day you moved into your new apartment and had such formal conversations on the WhatsApp group with your flat-mates who’re now your favorite people, that shopping spree you went on the day you received your salary and bought your favorite pair of jeans that fit you like no other jean in the world, the wedding you attended and had so much fun dancing and eating but was immediately ruined when your relatives poked you saying ‘you’re next in line’, zoom in on all those awkward first conversations you had with the one person who you now can’t even imagine your life without.

This year, I bet you’ve had both good and bad days. But, nothing has been constant apart from ‘change’. All those beautiful bonds you’ve created with the once strangers, all the hard days at work that has done nothing but upskilled you, all that money spent but has given you countless memories with your loved ones as photographs down your memory lane, all those exhaustive travel days but you’ve now seen sunsets you’ll never forget, all those days away from your loved ones that has made you lover harder whenever you can.

All in all, time never stops. With each day, each hour, each minute, many things around you change even though it’s hard to notice. So, this year, take that holiday, read that book you daily come across at the shelf, say ‘Hi’’ to your neighbor whom you seldom cross paths within the hallway, greet your receptionist sometime when you walk in, talk to that friend because of whom your landline bills went up in the 2000s, get that shiny dress you saw on the mannequin, try new things you’ve always wanted to, give warm big long hugs and…
“Smile”. Cause, well????
I’ll let you make/find your own reason to do so!

And here I’m cutting a cake again and watching firecrackers in the sky, wondering how everything has changed but well, some things never do :P