Here is the forgotten post, I mentioned here.

Karthigai is probably my favorite festival. I love the way the house looks lit up and the colorful rangolis that we used to draw. In the years in Houston, Karthigai always meant cold days with rain and wind – not ideal for lighting lamps. But every year I would string outdoor lights and just put out a couple of lamps. This year, the lamps hardly made it out of the house. The wind was so strong that they were blown away immediately. But that is what is expected.

The night before Karthigai, it was just another winter night with Baby I. It meant waking up at odd hours and grabbing a few winks when she sleeps. It was a skill I have learned over the past 3 months. One such time when I woke up and the twinkling lights in our patio were a pretty sight and my ears registered the strains of the nadaswaram and mirudangam. I was immediately transffered to another time – another lifetime as it seems.

I remembered my school days in Trichy. During the winters as I woke up in the mornings, shivering and wishing I could sleep longer, it would be the music from the nearby temples and the light from the street lamps that were my companions. The music from temples blaring from loudspeakers were common during the Marghazi masam and Decembers meant half-yearly exams. It was study time and I had to force myself to wake up before the birds to study.

This memory from my childhood just popped out of blue. It was a 10-year old memory that stayed with me. I never realized such memories stayed with one forever and rear its pretty head at totally unexpected times. It was such a pleasure to take a walk down the memory lane.

December 10 years back meant, Karthigai, new dress, color kolams, Marghazi kulir, monkey caps and sweaters, half-yearly exams and holidays, stars hanging in the homes of Christians and Christmas cakes. What did your December 10 years back look like?