A Lovely Evening

Through my window, I see the remains of snow on the street – still loitering around after 4 days of rain and sun. I had been waiting for it to snow the entire winter and it was finally here last Saturday – though only for a night.

We were out that day at Oxford Street – doing more or less our weekendly ritual of shopping-movie-dinner. Having read the weather forecast, I was expecting it to be snowing when we came out after watching Agneepath – but to my disappointment it wasn’t, there was just a light drizzle which is no surprise in this city. It was time for dinner and we decided to try out one of the place I had recently read about. As we walked through the fascinating back-streets of Soho, the water drops gradually started turning into snowflakes!

Walking in the snow, we reached the restaurant, which serves and is named after Korean signature dish – Bibimbap – which is essentially mixed rice with vegetables/meat. Fortunately we got the corner table overlooking the street so that I could feast my eyes as well. The food was ideal for a cold night as Bibimbap is served in a hot stone bowl, a bowl so hot that it converts a raw egg into a perfectly fried one in front of your eyes on your table! All through the meal I was eyeing, along with the snow, the shop just opposite the restaurant and I knew that I will be going there as soon as we finish paying the bill. And a gelato shop it was!

Having picked a cone of Mango sorbet for myself, we started our journey towards the station – and did I mention it was still snowing? The road that we were taking for the station was closed due to road works and hence we had to take a detour, which bought us to the Soho square garden. We stopped there to click a few photos of the lovely sight that it was – and were approached by a young lady who invited us inside the St Patrick’s Church, which was open for the night for some special prayers. The church looked so inviting from outside with the warm glow of all the candles inside that we decided to go in.

The lady guided us inside the Church and gave us a pen and a slip of paper to write down our wish. We then went to the altar where we lighted a candle and placed our wish. A choir was present, singing some lovely carols; and a priest too, listening to people’s confessions. We sat there for some time, paid our respect, came out experiencing something so blissful and then took the train home. I loved walking on the snow covered street on the way back home, continuously watching my shoe prints on the otherwise blank canvas. There is something so magical, so pure about the whiteness that snow brings and maybe that’s why I just love it.

P.S: I recently learnt that no two snowflakes are alike and each single one of them has a unique intricate design

1st Feb 2012

A month already in to the New Year and things has just been alright. It has started to get cold now after amazingly mild winters we had until now – a welcome surprise. It was so mild compared to previous decades that it had actually confused the plants, giving them a false early start. And now it is just one more month for the spring, officially at least, when the charming pansies start appearing all over the city.

I started a new job this year as well but sadly I am not enjoying the work-from-home arrangement this time. How I managed it for 3 years the first time around has become a mystery to me. It’s so hard to discipline myself to follow a proper 9-5 routine and I find myself bored to death at times. Maybe, I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to work just for money – the importance of money has somehow declined for me. My materialistic urges were never that strong; solitaires being the only exception to them.

In 2002, I had blown all the money that I had saved from a very young age to buy my first solitaire – a pair of studs. It was an amazing feeling to own something so precious for the first time in life! I got hooked on to them and bought myself a ring the very next year on my birthday with all the profits I made in the stock market. That day I decided that I will upgrade the solitaire every year on my birthday and did so with my salary for the next 2 years. That ring is one of my most cherished possessions - a sign of independence, despite having stopped buying solitaires after watching a gory documentary about blood diamonds.

Although I am not enjoying it, there could be nothing more perfect for me at this time. I am glad to have something to do to keep my mind busy for the coming two months, which are going to be tough. I am excited about the prospect but at the same time feeling a bit scared.