16 Dec 2011

Misty Memories - January


2011 gave me goodies and made me bite dust, all too often, that I can’t decide whether it has been good or bad. Yes, I have started saying my goodbyes to the year that closes in exactly fifteen days and this challenge gives me an opportunity to do it, memorably. Thank you, Nimue.

It’s quite simple actually, capturing the essence of what each month in a year has had to offer to date in my life. I had never really thought about it but it turns out I do have special memories associated with each month.

JANUARY


The year’s new and I’m always full of resolutions. Some that I pretended to keep and some that just collected dust in the nooks of my head. Prayers for the year to be better, to be kinder than the last and wishful yearnings for gifts that I failed to receive the year gone by… wishes, some good and some wicked like the time I wanted the shopkeeper to stub his toe.

Also a month (in 1999) that took away my mother for more than a week, the longest I have ever gone without her till date. I missed her sorely and spent time bunking school and seeking comfort in her nightie that smelt of her.  I didn’t understand why I couldn’t visit her in the hospital either.

But when she came back she had a fat bundle in her hand. I was delighted when two huge, coal-black eyes peeped out curiously out of the bundle and the rose-bud mouth pouted as though, even then, he knew that I would be his best frenemy.

I shrieked with joy, literally. I wasn’t a single child anymore.

January will always be special for 7 days into the month, it gave me a handsome devil of a brother, one whose hair I’ll gladly pull out for over-heating my laptop, for making me BEG him to take a bath every single day, for all the dirty nappies he made me dispose, for snitching me out to Amma, for discovering all my hidden stashes of chocolates, for being taller than me at age 12 and being annoyingly better than me at Math.

But it becomes worth it when I tie him a rakhi and he promises to take care of me, once a year.
I dread to think of a January without him and his birthdays, he adds spark friggin' fire to it.



What are your special January memories?

39 comments:

  1. I got my little brother in the same way as yours :) :) but it all happened in August :) :)
    This post has brought a huge smile to my face as its bringing back all the sweet memories :)

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  2. Happy birthday to your brother for the 7th..

    and siblings are always special :)


    Bikram's

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  3. i got my first pokemon cards way back in 2002 thats my jan memory i can remember right now.lolz

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  4. Such a cute post! January for me is special coz it's my birthday-month! :)

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  5. i was thinking of getting pictures for each month to relate my story too. Ahh you are too qucik!

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  6. Awesome words, wish I could write like you. :)

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  7. I love the brother sis pic!!!! And me being 7 years older to my bro, i too had the same experiences somewhat :)
    I wonder if I will have time to write too!! I so so want to start this challenge :)

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  8. @ Purvi, :):) so glad I could make you smile!

    @ Bikramjit, it's more than 20 days away but thanks:)

    @ Adi, :D

    @ PB, oh yay:) What's the date?:)

    @ Live2cherish, LOL, I'm 15 days late for the challenge and I always use pictures, Sire:)

    @ Ovais, my brother? Rohit Vikram:)

    @ Deepak, thank you so much:)

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  9. @ Em, join in! Short posts will do na:)

    @ Phatichar, :P

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  10. oiii that was so cute!! Love the little brother image.. I don't have much memories associated with January... except I always keep my resolutions till Jan and then they vanish just like the month!!

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  11. Younger siblings are extra special because we see them grow from Day one.

    Have this post shown to the little(not so little now, I`m guessing) tyke and I`m sure he'll give you a bone crushing hug.

    Birthday Wishes in advance to him.

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  12. I hav no fond memories for jan :(. I have some in feb :D

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  13. Oh yes. I still remember how special it felt when my lil bro came home. Ah! Lovely, the way you described the whole thing is amazing.

    Jan for me in 2011 is birthdays and exams. :P oh and breaking my leg.

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  14. January is the month of hope for me. Always has been. :) i take another year ends very seriously.

    Lovely post. :)

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  15. Jan for me is mommy daddy's birthday and a lot of chilly weather. :D
    And I think i put a dot instead of an underscore- id is aayushi_singh95@yahoo.in

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  16. How nice. Siblings are indeed special. My Sister got married this January!

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  17. Nice post. Loved the way you told about your bro :)Jan for me is something afresh, new and blossoming. Jan 2011 was when we had our dream house come true :)

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  18. I'm sure my sister has find memories of when adorable little me was brought home for the first time. :P

    January for me? The month I got my first period. Not something a girl can forget, right? :)

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  19. And the most recent memory of January for me is when I met with an accident early this year and smashed my face on the auto's meter. Managed to get away without fracturing my nose, but had three stitches above my upper lip. I had to endure quite many Angeline Jolie jokes till the swelling on my lips subsided. Bullies, I tell you, everyone. Hmmph. :/

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  20. Awwwie! :) Such a cute post...
    I remember something like that happening when my li'l sis was born :)
    Sooo many memories... *siiiigggh*.. its been a very weird year for me...
    I love the picture of the january calender btw! :)

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  21. sighhh..i wish i had a sibling in my life...
    and the experiences of all my friends used to make me feel worse...

    aah...january...
    a month of making resolutions and self promises to keep those resolutions which amazingly never seem to materialize..!!
    atleast for me..!! :P:P:P

    nice post PeeVee..!!

    cheers !!

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  22. Hey that is one sweet post. Loved reading about your bro. I remember hoping and wishing that my mum would go away to the hospital and get me a sibling. Never happened. Closest it came to was when she got a stomach ache, and I thought that was it! But it wasn't.

    Oh yea, like Spiff I got my first period in Jan too. That was a nightmare of a memory.

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  23. This is a lovely idea! But I can't even remember January lol!

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  24. Awwww... thats so sweet. Loving Birthday wishes to your dear brother. Hope you two remain frenemies forever:P

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  25. Aww. Adorable. And hoowww Everyone has a brother But ME. Sucks being a single child. *sigh*
    I m guessing he's big enuf to read dis? make him read it.. He ll love u even moree! :D:

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  26. January? Errr :( Nothing!

    December is special in my family.... :D

    2011 wasn't special for me...sigh...

    BTW, am glad to see you back <3
    xoxo

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  27. I am a Jan born too! :)

    There is instant joy.. during December and Early January time..! :D

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  28. January surely brings lots of surprises :D

    Stay Blessed ^_^

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  29. :D

    My younger brother also has his birthday in January.. :D

    I have not seen him for about an hour now...

    Wish you another great january to look forward to. :)

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  30. January always means exams for me, but it also brings a sense of a new beginning. Not to mention the lovely weather.

    A nice read. :D

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  31. Yellows Peevee:):) Ah!! Wowie..I kinda like this challenge...may go ahead with it....:):)
    ur post is sooo cute:):P. Trust me I have to tell my bro to take bath too..He morphs into a 'dont- u even think I'm gonna take a bath' in his exam days, and that's exactly whats happng these days:P...haha...and me...well if i have too much on my mind, I resort to alternate days;):D lol
    Happy December....!! the rest happy wishes shall come soon:)

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  32. could probably write a whole post on January..
    My dad's birthday, my grandmom's birthday, my wedding , and conceiving my first born.. Hmm may be I should take up this challenge too..:) Loved your write .. Made me think of my own brother whom I haven't seen in a while.

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  33. @ Shreya Z, :D thanks love...

    @ AS, yes we do:)
    Naah, he'd snigger at my have gone 'soft in the head' (as he'd put it). He's at the typical My-sister-is-out-to-kill-me stage :P

    @ Red, Feb is an entirely different deal na :P

    @ Sonshu, thank you:)
    Literally? Ouch!

    @ Srinidhi, lovely thought <3
    Thank you:)

    @ Cяystal, both of theirs in the same month? Nice:)

    @ Ashwini, thanks:)

    @ Keia, thanks girl..

    @ Spiff, :D erm, I don't remember mine..
    And I have a feeling I read about that somewhere :P

    @ Viya, thanks love:)

    @ meoww, life DOES get more erm..interesting with a sibling around but think of it this way, undivided attention of your parents:)
    Thanks love:)

    @ sumitra, thanks:) Gah and I don't remember mine-_-

    @ Hazel, none of the Januaries ever? o_O

    @ Cloud Nine, :D thanks..

    @ T, thanks and like I told Meoww look at the bright side:)

    @ Chintan, thanks Madame:)

    @ Sam, oooh, what date?!

    @ The Guy In The Mirror, it does:)

    @ Kunal, :D how old is he?
    Thank you, same to you:)

    @ Rose, true, that:)
    Thanks.

    @ Aakriti, it's fun. Do.
    Thanks:)

    @ Sunitha, oh my:) January qiuite special eh?:)
    Thank you, Madame:)

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  34. Wow, if I was made to think what I did each month this year, I will probably look as dazed as the dazest person could be.

    Jan is kinda drab-for December makes you relish all the winters and Jan just leaves you cold.

    Happy Birthday in advance to your brother...that's one cute pair you two make.:-)God bless!

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  35. Happy b'day tp ur brother. I dont ahve any such special memories attached with January.

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  36. Hahaha! I was smiling through the whole post.
    Wow!

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  37. @ Suruchi, it's not just this year Madame:) It's any year, one memorable memory.
    Thank you:)

    @ Ria, thank you..

    @ Uruj, thanks:)

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Go on, you can say it.