Old forgotten hobbies

Let me take you to my childhood. Like many children I had a weird hobby of letter collecting. Yes its weird. In those days emails were not popular and so was the telephone. People used to communicate via letters. The TV shows asked us to post the suggestions on letters. It was that time when "Superhit Muqabla" was a famous hit music show aired on Doordarshan. I used to see anchors reading out 2-3 letters from a heap of thousands.

Quiet surprisingly I took the idea of collecting letters that were delivered to our home. Every letter starting from invitation cards to personal letters I would keep them with me after they have been read. I specially liked if someone used the writing pad. The beautiful decorative pages amused me.

Then I started collecting local train tickets. Another funny thing. I had a purse and used to keep all the  tickets there.

I even collected marriage invitation cards as I said before. And it came to use when my elder brother was getting married. The writings and designs helped us to choose an appropriate card.

And then at the marriage ceremonies I used to collect the menu cards.

I even got a piggy bank and used to collect 1p, 2p coins which are now obsolete.

Life goes on and I grew up. And ultimately all the foolish habbits took a backstage. As I remember them I find my childhood to be so simple and funny as there was no particular reason as to why I had them.

Looking back at 2014

As the year draws to a close I look back at the year to be one of my the most beautiful years. It always seems weird how the year has passed by and today is its very last day. The year has been full of new things--new life,new people,new friends,new relations,new role,new designation.

It started with my marriage as I stepped to a completely new chapter of my life. With marriage comes responsibility and thus I had to feel the difference between my past and present lives. Definitely marriage is a total new game no matter whether you have it as an arranged or love. The relationship expectations,role and responsibilities are totally different. But with the passage of time things become more clear.

We went on a lovely tour to Kerala as our honeymoon trip. It was one of the best trips I had. We explored Kochi ,Munnar and Allepy as we had to do everything with 15 days including our marriage. As both of us are working the basic constraint is the leaves. But even within that span whatever we have covered has enthralled us. I specially liked the Allepy backwaters and was thinking how beautiful is life over there with no hustle bustle of the city, no running to office within 9 AM . :)

After returning as I joined office I was affected by a series of infections starting from my stomach upset to having a reactive arthritis. I had to endure immense pain and finally it took almost 3 months to cure properly.

During the mid of the year I got promoted and was given a new designation. I finally sowed the fruits reaped in previous years. What made me more happy was that I was under the same manager who used to shout at me and offer me lowest rating at the beginning and it was he who gave me the practice level Pride Award and also the best rating followed by a promotion. What more could have I asked for.

With new relation I got new bundle of friends and we had parties together. We went for a day outing at Vedic Village. And then came the historic tour to Vizag and Araku valley. I would say it as historic because we have done loads of things which we have never done before. As we were 8 in number the journey starting from boarding the train , was itself very funny and amusing. We went for a short trip of 5 days and thus the schedule was compact. We missed going to the Hrishikonda beach. I specially liked Araku valley . In the morning we caught an early train to Araku and got down at the Borra Guhalu station . As we were heading towards the Borra Caves we saw people singing the national anthem as it was Independence day. We were given small flags to pin in our dresses. We had amazing experiences at the Borra Cave and then we went ahead for Araku. After a few hours we plunged into the swimming pool. Then the next day we headed for some mesmerizing sight seeing. We boarded a train from Araku to Vizag at around 3:30 P.M hoping that we ahve enough time to catch the connecting train. But the train being a passenger one it was not given platforms and was forced to wait outside every stations. We finally got down at Simhachalam and hired an auto to take us to Vizag. We were tensed thinking that we might have to miss the connecting train. Then finally after lot of prayers we reached Vizag and started running towards the platform. Luckily the train has halted few more minutes and thus we could get our food and water. Ufff it was a breath taking experience.

The month October marked the beginning of festivals like Durga Puja, lakshmi Puja ,Diwali,Bhai dooj etc. Needless to say about my enjoyment. We all wait for this time of the year.

In the month of November we had a short trip to Diamond harbour. Then as the winter approached a series of marriage invitations followed.
After that it was Christmas where we had a small party at our house and with loads of office pressure this year has come to an end.

Looking forward to stress free, sorrow free enjoyable 2015 :)