Birthdays and New Year’s are the two times I find myself
asking the question, “Have I made it large?” Then I want to stand in front of
the mirror and give myself a tight bitch slap for not matching up to the larger
than life plans I have for myself.
“Never mind, it shall happen someday,” I tell myself.
This year, a friend gave me a call and asked whether I
wanted to join him in Amsterdam since stay would be free. The schedule was planned during this week.
Excited by the idea, I made a quick assessment of funds and spending 60K on
flight tickets for a week didn’t make sense. So instead, I decided to travel
someplace more affordable for a week. After a quick research, Kashmir picked
me.
It has been a wonderful day. I feel blessed to have a family
who stays awake until 12:00 am so that they can wish me. My nephew sang me a
birthday song at midnight. My travel mate to Kashmir, Jeet, pleasantly
surprised me with a cake that was shared by everyone at the houseboat. Srinagar
has a French restaurant where they picked up the absolute yum pineapple blend
black forest cake. Shalva was missed during the trip but we shall make up
for it with better plans in the future. Many thanks to Ishan for helping me book a
fantastic two days at the gorgeous Khyber resort. My dinner today was indeed ‘shahi’.
The process of getting older is inundated with another that
filters the fluff out of your life and leaves behind the meaningful core. This
evening I was watching Ellen DeGeneres show where she featured a tap dancer
whose leg was imputed at 19 and who survived after 16 months of chemo. With
years, I hope the least I have is more empathy. I admit life has always been
very kind to me and I am very thankful for that. I hope it continues to be. Kinder,
I wouldn’t mind that either. ;-)
So I may not have made it as large as I imagined. I will
work on it tomorrow.
However today, I am happy that some colleagues became friends
and keep me in thought on my special day. Good friends across Auckland,
Amsterdam and Alaska send a warm wish as wall posts or whatsapp messages. Okay
Alaska is a lie :P. Great friends send lovely notes or make a quick catch up
call. And beyond everything else, today, I am in a place that screams
‘paradiso’ in and out. That’s a whole great deal large enough to me!
So, my heartfelt thank you to everyone who sent a wish!
