"These are a few of my favourite things..."

In a lifetime of innumerable springs and chilly winters, as in my case, you do gather some of your favourite things that makes you smile. How do you gather those favourite things? Well, unknowingly, mostly. Do they get dusty? Yes, sometimes they do. But then you do take them out once in a while, polish them and get comfort at the knowledge that they are there. 

I like it when the camels from Rajasthan entertain the neighbourhood children in Bangalore, their fear, their awe, their giggle and the camel's nonchalant ways. All for five bucks.

I like the 'faraway' look on a man's eyes when his driver tackles the mad city traffic, unlike the diligent ones who are mostly glued to the road, heads straight, eyes fixed with utmost sincerity as if Angelina Jollie is going to miraculously appear infront of the car and belly dance! Strangely though, even with such concentration on the road ahead, the men would invariably mess it up when they are behind the wheels, same road, same turns.

I like it when the traffic comes to a standstill as the local shephard tries to ferry his parade of sheep, goats and cows from one side to another. No body honks. I like the calm.

I like it when kids keep pulling their parents in the razzling dazzling shopping malls towards cookie man or candy stores, while the dad lustingly stares at the Apple store and the mom gravitates towards Soch. Family dynamics contribute to healthy cohabitation.

I like it when once in a while I end up in the gym, music blaring, calories burning, moving surface and thumping lungs push me to test my fitness. It is in a miserable state, I realise ever so often.

I like it when in faraway Leh, a local craftsman writes down his address on a paper and hopes that I will send the pictures that I took of him by post. I hate it when I keep postponing that.

I like it when the smell of freshly baked chocolate cake, my umpteenth attempt at getting it right, fills up the air on a Sunday afternoon. It's a different thing that I never get it right.

And when the rain comes pouring from the skies and the roads are flooded and the kids sail small paper boats and thunder rips apart the neighbourhood, I curl up under the blanket with a Rohiton Mistry and forget about the world. Yes, that sure is one of my favourite things.