December, Christmas & New Year resolution

December, Christmas & New Year resolution

 December reminds me of my father's death in 1964. I always wondered if my life would have been the same had he lived longer. 

 My first trip to Goa took place circa December 1974 during St Francis Xavier's Exposition Goa celebrates in a big way. I enjoyed several firsts that trip; a taste of my first Fanny, a motorcycle ride, travel by Mogul Line Ship from Bhau-cha-Dhaka (a jetty), deep-sea fishing, and the warm glow of Goan hospitality. 

December transforms the suburb of Bandra into a mini paradise; lights, music, fun, frolic, food, drinks, reflecting the true glow and warmth of Christmas. 

 Christmas slows down Mumbai's pace of life. The work gets slower, the weather becomes pleasant, less humid. Placid, calm sea mirrors the mood of laziness around it. 

 Our home and our minds open up in December and blow in fresh air to clear year's cobwebs. The island city sheds frantic and frenzied pace in December. 

 I too slow down, deplete my whiskey stock, visits all favorite places in the town. I read more, reflect less, sleep more, wake up late. I stop putting together a to-do list. I match my mood with the festivities around me. 

 I do not celebrate New Year but keep awake to hear the midnight chimes from St Anne's church behind my house, and fade into sleep listening to some Portuguese tunes that a neighbor plays loudly when they begin dancing. 

 I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. I faltered badly when I tried a few times. At 70, there are not many resolutions left to pick up. I lead a saintly, and oversimplified lifestyle. Even though none of the resolutions of the recent past; from the mundane to revolutionary have worked out, my mind frantically thinks about the next year’s resolutions. 

 Do I want to learn music, or Salsa dance again? Acquire a taste for cricket or football? This will certainly put me up on the right side with few close friends. Should I usher spirituality in my life? That will wake up my mother who died ruing my atheism. Do I need to widen my social circle currently consisting of two and a half friends and five acquaintances! It’s too late for the party now. A friend has suggested a resolution of not doing anything. I like this suggestion but I might perish practicing this. 

 With little more than a month to meet the deadline for the New Year, I ought to hurry I am getting serious about cricket, and Salsa dance as the New Year resolves. The first will please two friends and the second will allow me to meet a lot more lovely women. At my age, this is a lottery. 

 But then, I feel let 2021 be ushered and let the future unfold in the mysterious way as it always does.

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