What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
“It’s a new dawn, It’s a new day, It’s a new life for me. And I’m feeling good.”
Nina Simone
When the kids were little and studying in a school in their hometown, we had a calendar that the school followed. Holidays and vacations were fixed and scheduled and there were never any deviations. This was for all grades across the school. And we were ok with this, ok with the fact that we knew when they had holidays and when they would be off. Our vacations and holiday escapades were scheduled in advance, and we were able to make the best use of the time we had. The only breaks in this schedule were if there was inclement weather and resulting consequences. And then we relocated to Muscat, Oman. The land of the scorching summers and cold winters, but no rains. No cloudy skies and no inclement weather. Happiness. the visual of the hills from the tiny balcony to the ocean view in the distance from the windows, clear skies, and crisp visuals defined happiness. Warm days, sometimes jumped into hot days. Maybe a little breeze to rustle up the leaves. And we were set.
“Good morning sunshine, you’re my only light
Good Morning Sunshine, Aqua
Lying with me by my side
You keep me warm all day just stay with me.”
Dad always made the best filter coffee at home. The decoction was always fresh, and the milk was warmed up in a clean utensil first mixed with sugar before the coffee was added to it. Then he warmed it up and served it frothy in a cup. This entire process, the way he made it, always was the perfect temperature for me to take my first sip. He used to wait until I was up and finishing my bath, before he started to make it, because I always came out to the perfect hot cuppa. No good mornings and definitely no conversations until I had my first cup. He would wait for that first slurp to hit the back of the throat and the sigh to escape. That was his ‘job well-done pat on the back’ and then he would go out and sit with the dogs doing the crossword. The smell of that coffee still lingers in my mind. I occasionally get it exactly like that. And when I do, I am looking to see if Butch would come blazing in, full of excitement to see me unaware that one excited jump and I would be cleaning the coffee off the floor and his lovely yellow coat. Happiness. That first cup of hot filter coffee with sugar, to hit the best parts of the day.
“It might seem crazy what I’m ’bout to say
Happy, Pharrel Williams
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way”
We always got Rs 10 for the bus to go to college. We never took lunch, because it used to get dry by the time we got to it. Our typical day would be coffee and breakfast (which was always lunch masquerading as breakfast) and then college and a big meal when we got back home in the afternoon or evening depending on the class timetables. Mum usually never had more than the bus charge daily, unless she had received payment for a case, and on those days, we would get an extra Rs 10. Drooling over the treats we could eat; we would head to college grinning like Cheshire cats. Eclairs, or Black Forest cakes or kachoris from Raj’s store, down the road. Or if we were sitting in the 11 am class above the canteen completing a class on Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, the freshly fried doughnuts cooling in the canteen, waiting to be dipped in icing sugar would beckon us. Those were the pre-mobile days, and both the sibling and I knew our schedules. We typically would run into each other either outside the canteen or on the back—drive. All it took was a glance to decide which treat would make us drool more and hit that spot better. Happiness- just being able to buy one treat in the day. We always got the same treat. We never shared; it was that entire Kachori that would satisfy the urge not just a bite from the siblings.
Uépa, She’s the one who always turns me on
Maria, Ricky Martin
Sexy angel fallen from heaven
She’s the one that always drives me wild
In her arms she’s driven forever
Así es María blanca como el día
Pero es veneno si te quieres enamorar
Así es María tan caliente y fría
Que si te la bebes de
seguro te va a matar
Uépa
The bus ride to college involved a change in the middle. We went from home to Majestic and then from there to college. Our timings coincided with the regular work hours, and no one had considered staggered timings to reduce the early morning chaos. Every minute made a difference and sharing the room and the bath with the sibling, we worked out a way to ensure we were both ready to head out at the same time. There were chaotic days in between when we missed the bus and caught the next one, which then ensured we missed the first hour of college. A 10-minute delay meant we would miss two hours. So, to wake up late, rush through the process, and reach the stop in time to get a seat for ourselves for the first part of the 45-minute journey. Unbelievable. This meant that our clothes would be less rumpled, and we would get to take a nap on the ride, reaching class feeling refreshed and looking neat.
We’ve got stars directing our fate / And we’re praying it’s not too late / Millennium / Some say that we are players / Some say that we are pawns.”
Millennium, Robbie Williams
Traveling to college used to be boring. If we got seats, we usually crashed. If we did not, and the bus driver had carried his tape deck on his shift to the bus, then we would get to listen to the latest Kannada chartbuster on a loop. If it was just a radio, then we would also get to listen to random advertisements and songs. These were not the best acoustics to listen to songs. The music was warring with the clanging gear shift, the revving engine of the bus, and the rhythmic tooting of the shrill horn he had affixed to the bus. We invariably got home with a throbbing headache, so, the relative silence and the happy dogs, always helped. The radio, our preferred FM channel playing the latest English chartbusters and the happy welcoming mutts at the end of a hot stuffy exhausting day was a welcome relief. Tuning into the station to one of our favorite songs and not the RJ announcements or the advertisements, was beyond bliss. It automatically zapped some energy into us.
“When marimba rhythms start to play Dance with me, make me sway Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore Hold me close, sway me more Like a flower bending in the breeze.”
Sway, Michael Bublé
Just a little more 