Well well,well if it isn't the December 31st already..........
It's that time of the year again when Mother Dearest drags our poor servant woman around the house and bosses her around to mop here,sweep there while she herself vacuums,dusts,polishes mercilessly, whacking away at the cushions,changing sheets and drapes and giving those good ol rugs a severe spanking for being so dusty(and dirrrrrrrrrrty) and then afterwards,goes in search of new clay pots to boil milk at 12 midnight and make milk rice the following morning.And me as always float about the place getting in everybody's way as usual while Daddy Dearest paces up and down impatiently with his hands on his hips while he waits for the fervent cleaners to liberate his favorite place in the rocking chair in front of the TV set.
Lovely atmosphere I must say.The whole place is bustling with activity.
And I'm thinking....I would feel very much lonely without any of these frantic activities taking place.And the baking smells wafting around the place is just wonderful.I practically bullied Mother Dearest in to making her signature pineapple upside down cake yesterday which will be filling the house with mouth watering aroma in a couple of hours.
I just think an occasion such as the approach of a New year,Christmas or anything else is the ideal occasion to do the things that you usually don't have time to do.Like cleaning for example.In today's hectic world,cleaning would mean a general sweep of the floor when you're expecting visitors(or when you find the place absolutely impossible to live in),a monthly dusting of cobwebs and the like and then sweeping all the dirt and dust under the rugs.Well,there should be a time of the year to actually clean the dirt from under the rugs,don't you think?
And according to my grand mother(who passed away a couple of years ago),a woman called Shriya won't visit your house if you had dirt in the nooks and corners of your house.I personally do not care for this Shriya or her visits(unless she brings presents of course), but then the prospects of a clean house,clean,nice smelling sheets,the newness of it all sort of appeals to me,which drives me to pitch in with my share of the cleaning as well(which includes cleaning my own room which is mostly untidy during rest of the year)
So what better time to sweep under the rugs,go on dust busting expeditions to nooks and corners of the house that haven't seen a duster in quite a while and to hear the whirring sound of the vacuum cleaner resounding through the house again? Plus it sort of drills in to your mind that a year has passed away and another one is about to begin which sort of pounds in to you the gravity of the situation(As in "what have you got to show for a whole friggin' year you good-for-nothing nincompoop?!?!) which ultimately drives you to forge a list of brand new New year resolutions which you completely forget about half way through the year.
Looking back at the past year,it had been good.It had been a life changing year for me,an year of personal growth,a year of shocking revelations,a year which proved to me that I'm still quite capable of surprising myself with my own idiosyncrasies,an year which was filled with quite a lot of surprises that I hadn't bargained for but which turned out to be quite positive anyway.It had been an year which proved to me that everything happens for a reason coz at the end of the day,even the downright shitty,monumental calamities which came my way only made way for the better,made me disillusioned and made me stronger than ever before.I have always believed that what ever happened during the year,if on the 31st of December you are still alive and looking back at all the stupid,idiotic and unimaginably moronic things that you have done within the year and you are still smiling,the year must have been pretty good.Well,I'm pretty much alive right now and positively glowing,beaming from ear to ear in retrospect.The year must have been pretty darn awesome :)
No New year celebrations tonight sadly.Parents! What can I say,life's not fair! :(
Tonight will be the traditional milk boiling preceded by Mommy Dearest at 12 Midnight.Tomorrow early morning(yes,around 5am) we shall all visit the Kelaniya temple and have a breakfast of milk rice prepared in a brand new pot when we get home.So you see,occasions like the New year provides the perfect opportunity for people like me who are not really the temple-going type to visit a temple at least a several times a year.And I'm not particularly fond of milk rice either,but the stuff prepared in new clay pots are actually pretty good coz it retrieves from the pot a certain earthy flavor which really appeals to me.
I absolutely adore the Kelaniya temple at dawn.I'm not exactly the sort of person who has by-hearted all the Gathas and chant them with glazed eyes and go bathe the Bodhiya in the pouring rain.I just love the calm and quiet which prevails the temple premises at dawn when the day light has barely broken and theres not much of people about.I used to go there with Mommy Dearest in the good old days and wander around the place while she worshiped.It has this wonderful serenity about it which paves the way to absolute peace of mind and ultimate lightness of the soul.Which in turn,brings me this immense and overwhelming sense of respect and gratitude(which no amount of Gatha chanting in a language which feels totally and completely alien to me can bring) for The Great Lord Buddha who sacrificed such a lot to bring about this great philosophy according to which we lead our lives even to this day.Thus I take my own spiritual journey in to my own spiritual realm that resides within my mind.Inspiring indeed.
My New year resolutions? Well,I don't really need the dawning of a new year to make resolutions.Every day for me is a new beginning.Therefore,I shall make the necessary resolutions to make my life and the life of all those around me better at each dawning of a day.Because change is inevitable.And when those changes occur,we must be ready to change our resolutions according to them.Secret to any man's(or a woman's) success? Ultimate versatility.
Oh and by the way, New year predictions had already begun I think.I just happened to have a bath in the evening and I had intended not to leave the room until my hair had completely dried off (coz Mommy Dearest positively goes ape and bananas every time she finds out that I've been bathing at night) But then she happens to peek in to my room and see me in all my dripping wet glory,taping away on the keyboard with the fan on full blast and instantly flips her lid.She predicts pneumonia in my future.And I'm not surprised :)
So happy New year everyone.May it be one where all your dreams and fantasies become a reality and one at each dawning of a day shall bring you peace and harmony of the greatest sort withing yourselves,your minds,your bodies and souls.May it be a year which will resound with laughter and be lighted with smiles all the way.And may you all be happy above everything else :)
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