The clock is ticking away.
I have promises to keep before I step into the New Year...
While the rest of the world is busy making plans for the New Year, I have drawn up a list of what I should do before the year ends.
The year 2014 has been both good and bad for me.
I got married early this year and found a new family to call my own.
Some of you readers sent in your wishes on Facebook and over e-mail. I'd like to thank you all.
At the same time, health-wise, it hasn't been a good year -- a fractured foot followed by a toe nail injury ensured that I was out of action for a good part of the year.
With just a few days left for the year to end, I want to make up for all that lost time.
Here's a list of things I intend to accomplish in the next few days, some of which I feel all of us need to do.
Clean up my wardrobe and donate old clothes
I resolved to do this at the start of the year, but never got down to doing it.
Over the last one year, I must have accumulated a lot of new clothes as wedding gifts from friends and relatives.
I have more than I need, so I want to donate some of my clothes to the girls in the nearby orphanage.
I have done this several times in the past and I can tell you that the happiness you feel from sharing clothes is much more than you get from buying and wearing new ones.
Clean up my social media profile
I was going through my Facebook profile and realised that it has more than 1000-odd people listed as friends, some of whom I’m rarely in touch with.
My timeline is filled with tagged posts that are not verified -- photos of missing kids, videos of animals doing strange things and so on.
Just like my wardrobe, I need to delete those posts and de-tag myself.
Also some of the pages I have 'liked' are no longer active and do not produce relevant information. I need to unlike them and clean up my profile.
Maybe we should all do this from time to time.
Back up my phone
Two years ago, when I lost my phone while getting out of a local train, I had promised myself I would create a back up.
It is high time I did that -- back up contact information, photographs and important messages.
Finish a book I stopped midway
Earlier this year, I bought the book I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education.
I would read a few pages regularly and found great inspiration from the young girl’s personal struggles.
Halfway through the book I got busy with other pursuits and could never motivate myself to go back to it.
Now that she's won the Nobel, I feel I should finish reading her book before the end of the year.
Spend time with family
Every time I go home, Amma complains that I don’t spend enough time with her.
Our phone conversations post marriage do not last more than 10 minutes.
I am either rushing to catch a train or bus or busy helping my mother-in-law at home.
Perhaps I should spend a weekend with Amma and relive those old days -- endless talking, some household shopping and lots of cooking.
Remember, I had told you guys how much I'll miss her post marriage.
Spend time with old buddies
Before getting married, I had promised my friends that I would not let marriage affect our friendships.
Looking back, I can count the number of friends I've met post marriage.
The last few days of 2014 I intend to spend time with my old friends and make up for lost time.
Surprise an old neighbour
Remember, I had told you that no matter how much you plan, you’ll always end up displeasing someone over the wedding.
The other day, Amma was telling me how we had forgotten to invite one of our old neighbours to the wedding and that she’s very upset about it.
I told Amma we'll pay her a surprise visit and convey our apologies.
Since she likes idli-chutney, I plan to cook and pack her some, just to see her smile.
The above list, I hope is not too hard to accomplish.
Just like everyone else, I want to have a fulfilling 2014 and carry a lot of good memories before I welcome the New Year with better promises and more surprises.
As I write this, I wish you all a fun filled and healthy 2015.
Let the good times roll.
Photo: David Machiavello/Creative Commons
