Whenever I hear this song, I wonder where have all my favorite things gone! Each time I end up making a mental list of all things that I love. Or those that I used to love. There was a time when small and simple things were the very reasons of my happiness. These small little things were what made me genuinely happy.
As I now try to recollect something – anything – that makes me happy, I realized how much I've changed… With a surprise I note how I am unable to recollect most of what brings me happiness. Or when was the last time I was actually happy! Why, oh why, did I lose myself and my happy-go-lucky spirit amid the chores of life and the cares of the world! When did this transformation happen… I have no answers now but I’d surely explore and figure it out soon – very soon!
S keeps telling me – Be happy. Forget the past. Move on! How can anyone do it – when they’re shrouded in the bitterness of the past memories, and surrounded by misery! Happiness is not just a state of mind. It's a whole lot of things put together. Happiness, just like love, is such a fleeting thing, an ephemeral feeling. And yes, it indeed is difficult to understand what makes me happy and bring it all back into my life… welcome my old friend with a smile!
Nevertheless, I did manage to come up with a not-so-long list of things that still make me happy – genuinely happy.
- Beautiful and colorful butterflies
- Rainbow
- Jasmines
- Pink roses
- Honey
- Chocolate chips ice cream
- Shiny glass bangles
- Romantic songs of the Golden Era
- Flying dupatta
- Raindrops
- First sip of freshly brewed hot coffee
- A good book (preferably a feel-good romance or a racy thriller)
- Smile of a baby
- Hugging my daughter
- A word of praise
- Bright sunny morning after a week of incessant rains
- A loving touch
- Cooing of the birds
- An indulgent gesture
- Memory of my daughter’s face just after she was born
- A walk on the wet sand
- A deep wet kiss
- Roasted peanuts with jaggery
- A tight, therapeutic hug
- An off-white sari with a red border
- Touch of skin on skin
- Picking up flowers that fell from a roadside tree
- Raw mangoes with salt and chilli powder
- The scent of the fresh mehendi
- A romantic movie evening
- A shared chocolate
- Corn on the cob
- Kalakhand
- Satin ribbons
- Melody chocolates
- Fresh orange juice
- Pani puri from a road-side vendor
- Childhood black-and-white photographs
- Natraj pencils
- Watching Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi episodes on YouTube
- Photographs of breath-takingly picturesque locales
- Waking up to Venkateswara Suprabhatam
- Snuggling in a warm quilt on every winter morning
- Finding money in a jeans pocket or a discarded purse
- Reading a romantic Telugu novel (secretly)
- Buttered popcorn
- Star ice cream
- Cadbury five star
- Nanna's creative stories on how the rats left sweets for me and my little bro
- Staging dharna at home to make nanna take us to a movie
- Praying to God every evening to make our toy birds real
- My lovely ‘Lily doll’
- Bournvita and Horlicks
- The soft touch of an infant
- Scent of Johnson's baby powder, baby oil, milk, the baby scent
- Hopscotch
- Making love in the rain
- Gudiya ki shaadi and the goodies that we got at my doll's marriage feast
- Birthdays and new clothes
- The smell of brand new books
- Pocket money
- Greeting cards
- Key chains with names engraved
- The scent of the agarbatti
- The chiming of the temple bells
- Delicate anklets and toe rings
- Nail polish, and lipstick
- Kaajal and kumkum spread on to the face
- Amma's rustling silk sari
- Bell earrings
- My first lemon yellow and brown churidaar
- A cute, white, soft, cuddly puppy
- An hour-long oil massage, and bath
- The scent of the sambrani...
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