Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.
... actually none of these are my favorite things ... But my mom just returned from India. In her bag were tons of goodies ... clothes, snacks, sweets etc. In the night we tried on Isaac one particular hoodie that his 'Velliamma' (my older sister) sent for him. It was nice and comfy. As I picked him up to rock him to sleep - I took one deep breath of this new hoodie he was wearing.
It smelt like my parents 'cupboard' (Thats what we call closets in India). Probably the smell of the wood that was used to make the cupboard. It smelt like ... old days ... it smelt like my dad's shirts and my mom's sarees ... it smelt familiar ... it smelt like I had to go back to India right now.
So in no particular order - my brain started thinking of my 'favorite' things.
The smell of clothes kept in the 'cupboard' in India
Overnight train journeys .. Love sleeping on those 'births'
Lime rice and crispy fried chicken .. which only tastes its best on the overnight train journeys
The sound of keys jiggling outside the door as my dad got ready to open the door
Cotton mattresses on wooden beds!
The cool breeze after the first rain after a hot summer
The sound of the 'ALWAYE' bridge as the train crossed it.. It meant we were close to home!
The sight of the familiar house as you turned the corner of the bumpy road to grandparents home.
Walking on marble floors without socks
Wet jeans from the knee down during the monsoons
Stitched clothes - I do not like ready-made too much since they never fit me right and my sister manages to find the best tailors in town
Bhel puri wrapped in old newspaper
Mallu weddings -- they are the best .. the noise.. the chaos .. the driver with the lack of direction taking the wedding party to the wrong church .. o yea it happened!
Colorful clothes
Indian pizza with the tandoori chicken
Nieces!
Swimming in the pond in Kerala
October 16 2009 :)
Power cuts! Even though I curse them when they happen - You just realize how much time you spend with each other talking when there are not numerous other things to distract you
Grandparents
Sizzlers!
Tours (thats what we called vacations in Kerala when a family rents out a 20 passengers and sets out from Munnar to Kanya Kumari!)
Riding the Kinetic Honda
Gorai Beach
Grad School
I do not think it will ever stop!
i love your list. i keep my own in my journal.
ReplyDeletebhel puri ... yum.
tours.. we did that with 11 people in one ambassador car. and i would rather not relive that experience.
lime rice.. might have to put that on the menu in the near future. i actually remember amini aunty's yogurt rice which she would pack for our church trips way back when.
Why do I not see "mind blowingly awesome cousins, who are the stuff of the earth"!??
ReplyDeleteYou always ignore us.
P.s - so glad you started blogging! Please don't stop writing!