like how this picture turned out.
for life <3
friend DISCOVERING MAGICAL APPS IN MAH PHONE (yes very slow to jump onto the iphone camera apps bandwagon but stillllll)
home made cold chocolate with whipped cream!!
this cny period was like a mini reunion as family from msia visited. feeling very happy and nostalgic at the same time.
am not sure if this is good or bad, but growing up apart from family in another country has been really eye-opening. i wish i could remember all our large family trips that we took when i was <5. the lack of photos don't help either. but listening to stories does. about how when siblings got married, they all stayed together in the house in typical indian joint family fashion back in those days. how the lack of private space meant that you learn to live and love every body in the house. you dont just tolerate them, but accept them. you may not have been necessarily happier, but definitely a more patient human.
i can't rmb alot from the past, except for the stories my grandma tells me now and then. like how i broke a cousin's chin and how we used to run about and roll around together. it's heartwarming that we shared a united past. but now everyone'e grown up and almost all are married. we live our own lives. we dont keep in touch as much as we should. no time or is it something else.
but i know, i've lived away from them long enough to know that when we do meet after years or even a decade, the warmth, the familiarity, the love still remains. no inhibitions, no shyness, not much awkward shy moments.
wish we would have a reunion where everyone who is scattered all over the world will come back to india together at the same time and have the most epic gathering ever. (wishful thinking at its best)
xxxxxxxxxx
(mom forwarded me an email which said to list 5 things you are grateful for everyday! and imma do that)
MY GRATITUDE LIST
1. for family, small and big. they make me feel like i will never be alone in this world and that reassuring feeling is one that warms my heart.
2. living in a beautiful country, next to india. sometimes I do complain about the insane stress and the cold behaviour, but i'm still very grateful to have lived in this tiny island which has seen my best years in life and has made my dad say 'if i had known earlier, i would have made you do NS' jokingly i hope.
3. for a thoughtfully kind dad who came back from watching his first grand slam live, and bought a bag for me. (especially special since most of the time i only get chocolates from the duty-free shops in airports hehe)
4. For friends, who may not be physically here but who are just a whatsapp, skypechat, fb msg away.
5. today's breakfast. (for a mom and aunty who make the best food in the world at home. food so excellent that guests exclaim 'open a restaurant!!' one too many times.)
