Mind Frame

A year ago if someone said that I would be married in a proper sit-down ceremony, I would have baulked.  A sit-down wedding has several memories & moods to it. Much of it is a mess  or is at an ungodly hour with numerous loud people, kids high on sugar & the list is endless. If none of these tick any of your boxes then there is the arduous task of keeping someone in the bloodline happy by sitting in a cross-legged position for a ceremony that is not only commercialized but also incomprehensible & at times regressive. Not to forget the numbness in the legs that makes you feel like you are floating while you actually were completely grounded for almost 3 hours prior. Cut to the chase, when we decided to marry we wanted to skip this entirely in exchange for a court marriage. There was no way we could have simplified or modified the wedding. Also, what about the ceremony being understood & enjoyed? There were strict rules & stereotypes that are to be followed & ther

While the year had so much riding on it and it failed to deliver in many ways, one can think of few successes & a lot to be indebted for.  Life and health was retained, lived through and also scraped by for some people in the family.  So, looking over the shoulder one has the following to be thankful for health and stable ground beneath the feet. The following are my reasons: Survived 9 tropical storms and typhoons in the Philippines (wait there is more) in all of 2020. Survived a massive volcanic eruption that blanketed Manila in Ash for over 3 days and 2 days of WFH in Feb (the absolute anxiety of the volcano staying on grade 3/5 and its past notorious history being unimaginable). Survived 3 major quakes that are close to anything that can imagine as near certain death. Survived COVID (so far) home quarantine, social distancing and the lack of high fives and hugs . Survived a 7 hour sweeper flight of Air India taking me (after numerous calls and form filling with the Indian embas