The Small Joys in Life!

I searched for my cell phone desperately all around the house. “I really have to tell her this”, I thought.

As the network servers indulged in sinusoidal small talk to connect the two lines, I started questioning my instinct which was making me call this girl. She isn’t much of a cricket freak. Her knowledge of the game is limited to ‘Bowlers bowl - Batsmen hit’. She also thinks that a “No ball” happens when there is no ball available to play after a batsman has hit it out of the stadium for six. But then, she still manages to watch the game and celebrate when India wins. “I guess that’s good enough!”, I reassured myself.

“Hello”, she said.

“Hey!”, I said, with a volcanic eruption of excitement in my voice.

“Should I call you back? Why are you wasting money on roaming?”, she inquired, like the wise woman she always was.

“No it is all right. I have to tell you something.”, I blurted - the volcano refusing to die down.

“Are they getting you married?”, she asked, sounding almost convinced.

I should have expected that question considering the fact that I was 25, single, on vacation and visiting my relatives.

“No! We will talk about that later. I have smaller things to worry about. You know, I realized today that it has been almost 2 years since I last played cricket”

“Ok! I am glad that you realized.”

I decided to ignore the sarcasm, attributing it to her lack of interest in the game.

“I played cricket today. Every inch of my body is hurting. But I love it! I think we are all missing out on the small joys in life!”

For some strange reason, she was able to comprehend the glum message behind the excitement façade. We talked about it for a while, fought over some copyright issues, reached a consensus and hung up. (For more on the copyright fight, please see http://cracklingembers.blogspot.com/ )

After that I made it a point that in this week-long trip to my hometown, I would do all those things which used to mean a world to me once.

Food, as usual, topped the list. Spicy Poha with hot Jalebis and samosas every morning, Makke ki roti, Corn kees, Onion kachori, Dahi wada, Mirchi ka bhajiya...The list goes on.

Then came the experiences. I danced! I realized that all the blaring ‘House’ and ‘Hip hop’ music in the Bangalore night clubs had corrupted me. But as soon as the Punjabi remix songs started playing, my soul dint take much time to switch back to the unique Govinda + Malkit Singh + Jazzy B + Jay Z all in one style.

Once the baraat entered the reception area, we escaped and drove down to our engineering college at 1 am. The watchman failed to recognize us. His dog didn’t. We sat on those steps and recounted all the stories – the teachers, some of the few pretty girls, the crushes which never went forward, the ragging period, the canteen, the days when we bunked college to play pool & finally some more of those few pretty girls.

I think this was one of my best vacations in recent times. Simply because I did those things which took me back in time. Things which mattered to me!

After coming back to Bangalore, I feel I am caught in the never ending rate race of working, socializing and guzzling beer. May be all of us are.

Without being preachy, I want to encourage us to think hard and list down those small things which made us happy. For example, a friend of mine told me how every time she goes home, she makes it a point to go on a drive to Marina beach, breathe the morning wind, watch the sunrise, hear the birds chirping away, while choosing to ignore the army of men doing their morning duties along the coastline.

So…

Eat that extra gulab-jamun.

Go to the night club on a bollywood night.

Take your bike/car and go on that long drive.

Sing/dance the night away with friends.

Watch the sunrise!

Eat another gulab-jamun.

Enjoy the small joys in life!