Edited by: Mohan Rajagopal
With Diwali passing just a few days back, I’m sure most of us would have taken part in the annual ‘house cleaning’ ritual of most Indian families. The sheer number of tiny things I find in almost all corners of my room may seem insignificant to a third person but to me, they are extremely special.
So I’m here to share a recipe made from those very tiny things which radiate the utmost sense of comfort and warmth, almost like a hug from your favourite person. I call it memories garnished with nostalgia.
To feel the way I did, you will need:
- 7 to 8 photo albums, but a few more wouldn’t hurt.
- A few old cards and letters; slam books can make a special appearance too.
- Old tickets— we could work with boarding passes from family trips, the entry pass for the field trip your school took you to in the 11th-grade, the one ticket you saved when you went to the arcade right after your board exams, or even the bill from your first date with your s/o— the more the merrier.
- Your middle school journal— This, according to me, is the most vital ingredient, the cherry on the top, so to say. After ignoring your horrendous spellings, going back to what life was like almost seven years ago will be the sweetest “oh I’ve grown up” feeling ever.
Method:
– Start by dusting off the photo albums you’re glad your parents still kept in this ‘digital age.’ The key is to really take your time with them. Leave no page unturned. The ones on the top will usually be from not too long ago— those vacations in 2010 you just remember five distant things about, those school functions you had no idea how much you would miss a decade later, your grandparents, your relatively younger parents— keep flipping, keep going deeper. You’ll find your baby phase in a while. Oh, you were such a cutie in those jazzy outfits and snazzy accessories. Pictures from your first swim, the first time you rode a cycle, your first time eating with cutlery(or at least trying to), being engrossed in those arts and crafts you did in daycare, and, of course, my favourite— the parent imitation. From posing with any item which belonged to them to wearing their clothes and using their skincare, you were ready to take on the world. There should be one more special album near the end of the pile. This is from the day you were born. That will make you feel something along the lines of realising how old you actually are and how you are here, existing. Those happy, smiling faces holding their little bundle of joy still think you’re just as small. Take your favourite photo out and take a picture of it. You’re going to go back to that on the hard days.
– Next, go through the papers. Birthday cards are my absolute favourite. Somewhere between receiving those cards with the little fairies my mom drew to those from Archies and Hallmark illustrations, I grew up. Run your thumb on those stickers and the funny smilies. Take a mental screenshot of it. The child in you is still alive. From those cards, you forced your parents to get for ‘daughter’s day’ to the Christmas greetings from the family outside India, read it till you remember every sentence. Move on to those quilled and painted cards made by your artistic friends. The ‘bffs4ever’ above their name, the same name you haven’t thought about in so many months. The apology letters for things you don’t even remember anymore, the congratulatory cards for both big and tiny achievements, the get-well-soon cards sent by your grandparents the second time you broke your ankle, the cards with memories you wish you could relive, the letters whose words you have engraved in your mind and etched on your skin. It’s not gone anywhere—the words are living through you.
– You should have entered a bittersweet wave of emotion by now, but the papers aren’t over, and deep down, you hope they never will be. You can continue by going through the old loose sheets, from study notes you were too proud of to discard to the sheets with unintelligible writing, games, and drawing competitions with your desk buddy during class— you begin to understand why you’ve kept them all these years. Next, you might see a bundle of boarding passes you kept after every flight just so you could play pretend-airport when you were back. Along with the actual, they have flower and animal stamps on them which you definitely did yourself while ‘taking your stuffed animals to Paris’
Under all those papers, if you’re lucky like I was, you’ll find a middle school journal. Dated 1st January 2013, you had a new year’s resolution to write more but gave up after the first month. Mood-coded glitter pens for 31 days were enough to get an idea of what life was like. From being scared about 6th-grade unit tests, going downstairs at 5:30 every day to play with my friends, having the ‘ew, can’t talk to boys’ phase, and even documenting an entire holiday to Kashmir, I’m glad my 12-year-old self found solace in writing. I wish I could go back and tell her that some things are going to be carried forward for life, this being one of them.
Once all the steps are complete, you’ll be left with the most beautiful and calming final product— memories garnished with nostalgia. Laugh, cry, smile, reflect— expect it to hit you slowly, and then all at once. Enjoy it for the next few days, forget about it in the next few months, and then you have a chance to relive it all over again the next Diwali clean-up.
And no matter what anyone says, you don’t have to part with them. Some things are worth giving a piece of your heart to.