V says this happened in order to push me towards a more active form of social involvement than writing a cheque. Perhaps an answer to my fervent prayers that my feet stay on the ground, no matter what. To cut a long story short, enroute the suburban station on Tuesday, our new year day, my auto at zero speed but down slope, ran into a Aisamma Besep, 50?, a kachravali heaving an overfull rubbish bin across the road. Remember all those spy torture tales about nails peeled off? Well it is true. Spent most Tues. morn at the hospital ensuring X rays, sticthes, wound dressings, scolding, cajoling and some measure of sanity. The nurse, the girl in the pharmacy, the guard-- all remembered from 2 yrs ago. Anyway... there is a time for all seasons....

I don’t think I’ve seen our colony as beautifully lit as it has been this year.

P and her son surprised me one afternoon with food, flowers and a glass bowl to float diyas in. Now I have to remember a Catholic festival with the same intensity. S, my late friend IE’s hubby called to generously wish..we have been keeping away from wishing Eid so that they have the space to move on… so many life lessons.

The beautiful, perfect puja in the office. The beautifully arranged puja at N’s and the perfect Kashmiri dinner afterwards, (the dum aloo that I did more than justice to) the only aberration being “roadblocks” (as Baba called them) in the vishnu sahatranam where I kept returning to the same point reciting from memory...but our prayers were sincere...next year will be better.

This year I want to do one thing at a time instead of multitasking and keeping too many mailboxes open at the same time. And I must find the time to write more.

One major learning is that my productivity dips and that too badly when I have tons of free time, I work smarter when I'm cramped for time.

And I must learn to respect the time value of money.