Gratitude List- October
For any Bengali, anywhere in the world, October is a special month. This is the month when we celebrate our Durga Puja. I am no exception. Apart from Durga Puja we also celebrated Lakshmi puja, Kali Puja, Diwali and Bhai Phonta (Bhai Dooj). This year, thanks to the neighborhood kids, we also celebrated Halloween in October. One more festival got added to our already overworked festival calendar. Undoubtedly it was a happy month but festivities also bring about lots of work, so by default a hectic month. Phew!!!
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Durga Puja and my Saree Love: After ages this year I wore three new sarees, as the Bongs would say aankora (never worn before) saree for the three days of Puja. I also brought out all my old sarees from the wardrobe a month before puja started, washed and ironed them and to my own disbelief, I actually managed to wear 10 different sarees during the 5 days of Puja. I literally went on a saree overdrive this year. Previously, I used to keep procrastinating the washing and ironing of sarees till the last day. Eventually, on the day of the puja, I used to have no time and then go out in anything I could put my hands on. However, this year I planned in advance and got everything ready well before time. Therefore, I could do full justice to my sarees and myself.
Global Hair Highlight: I have always been anxious about my hair and never experimented with it. However, now with age, my hair is anyway falling and greying. So now I felt comfortable to experiment with whatever is left of my hair. So, I went to a parlor that was offering a discount on Global Highlights and got it done. Once in a while, it feels good to indulge yourself. Doesn’t it?
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Diwali Cleaning: Decluttering and cleaning the house has become my hobby. I find decluttering an extremely relaxing process. Therefore, Diwali is the favorite time of the year for me when I get to exhaustively clean my house. Until last year I had a maid who used to help me in this cleaning but she left her job and shifted back to her native village after her kids got married. I was skeptical about being able to manage the cleaning on my own, thankfully I managed. However, even after deep cleaning a part of me always feels that it is not clean enough. Sigh!!!!
Meeting my Best Friend: My best friend M came down from London with her one-year-old twins. We spent an entire day visiting different places in Mumbai. The traffic and unseasonal rain played truant, nevertheless, it couldn’t dampen our spirit and we enjoyed to the hilt. It was so much fun to meet her sons. It reminded me of those days when my son was a toddler and how stressed I used to get managing him. It was undoubtedly the best day in October for me.
Dad’s death anniversary: 23rd October was Bapi’s third death anniversary. I spent the day alone, I was just trying to relive the moments that I had spent with my Dad. I tried to be thankful for that day. I was blessed to have a father like him and would want him back in my next birth as well.
Diwali: This was a nice day when I felt good watching my son being happy. He was super excited and watching him happy and excited made my day. In the evening I lighted diyas. Unlike previous years, this year I had arranged everything in advance and therefore there was no chaos on the D-day. We also went to the Kali temple for Kali Puja.
Met a Fellow Blogger: I have been extremely fond of Shilpa from Metanoia and always wanted to meet her. On the day of Bhai Dooj we went to the house of my son’s cousin for the occasion. Their house is near to Shilpa’s house and therefore I lapped up the opportunity to meet her. We chatted almost for two hours and not even once it felt that we were meeting for the first time. It was such a beautiful afternoon. Thanks, Shilpa for meeting me.
[image error]Halloween: This was the first time that kids came over to our house doing ‘trick or treat’. I am expecting more kids would come next year. One new festival got added. It was super cute to watch the kids dressed as superheroes.
Books and Movies: Finished reading “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah. [image error]Also, read “You Beneath Your Skin” by dear friend Damyanti @dailywrite I watched couple of nice movies this month. I absolutely loved Modern Love on Amazon. I also enjoyed the Japan season of Queer Eye. I kind of enjoyed watching the Zodiac and Girl Interrupted.
