The year end transition is always hectic, only this year there was no travelling back and forth to Chennai, cause these are not normal times and travelling is undertaken only when the situation demands it. So most of December was spent in my little hometown at the tip of the Indian Peninsular and life here is more or less back to normal, so it was pretty amazing to be out in the ancient mountains and pristine beaches with the wide open skies above and the smell of excitement in the air. Christmas time in my hometown is quite beautiful, houses are lit up with stars and nativity scenes are set up in every nook and corner. A special kind of wild reed is used to construct the nativity cribs here and we decided to go to the mountains nearby to pluck some. So off we went trekking into the mountains, and it felt good to be surrounded by nature and friends with the sweet earthy smell of Christmas reed in the air. (This smell is pretty nostalgic, instantly takes me back to childhood Christmases).
We have this new year tradition where we go to the beach every year on the 31st of December and this is one of the most anticipated events in our group. So anyway, 31st December dawned and it was an auspicious day I guess because we were all at different events, there were numerous weddings and a house warming party and we were on whatspp checking when each other would get home so that we could go to the beach on time. Meanwhile, it started pouring like crazy, sheets and sheets of rain and it looked like we wouldn’t be able to go to the beach this year. Nevertheless, we waited it out and by 4:30 pm the rain tempered down and we all made it to the beach only to be driven away by cops who said that the beach was off limits for the next two days. We were like ‘nothing doing, this is our tradition and we are going to enjoy the beach’. So we drove a little away from the cops till we reached a coastal village with boats and houses on the shore. No cop is going to tell a fisherman to stay away from his own backyard which is the ocean, so we had a fun time at this little fishing village, sitting on catamarans and watching the sky put on a magnificent show.
We got home and it started pouring again the entire evening… heavy rains and we thought we might have to skip the midnight mass. But somehow, it stopped pouring by 11pm and off we went to church all decked up, and it was rather amazing. Since we were sitting outside, the cold midnight air felt wonderfully alive and the full moon was right above us, shining peacefully and comfortingly. It felt as though the universe was embracing us and filling us with magic.
Then one of us got married and the rest of us were pretty excited about it, we decided to wear a pleated skirt and a top for the wedding and the idea turned out to be great. During the wedding mass, we found a little door inside the church that led to the bell tower, so we climbed it and took pictures on top of the church and it was pretty hilarious posing on top of the church. From climbing church towers and dancing at Jack’s wedding, to walking in paddy fields and listening to the story of Jen and Joy over ice cream, to getting drenched in our favourite falls and discussing what we want in life… life with the colony gang is pretty eventful. When we get together time seems to stand still… we’ve been in each others lives for the past fifteen years or so and when we all meet again life just overflows. Dreams, bucket lists, loss, heartbreaks, food, stories, hopes, frustrations, fashion, family, everything is discussed as we go on adventures discovering beauty in existence and cherishing that familiar comfort we find in each other.