Merry Christmas and a very happy New year  2011 !! To all my extended family, may this day and all the coming days be full of just unlimited happiness and joy. May all your wishes come true, may family and friends remain out of harm and illness. May there be peace among us, to imbibe adversity and confrontation with love and care. And may we be as always with each other holding hands, sharing caring and loving each other ! So help me God !!

For the first time ever in my remembrance, Jaya brought in a Christmas tree in the house and decorated it with the finest trappings of all that goes to make it look inviting and attractive. But more, she hung little gifts for us all and as the midnight hour struck, asked us over to look for our goodies. It was so sweet and generous and considerate to have done all that - and all done quietly, all by herself ! Oh ! Such a wonderful moment. We had a few guests over for dinner and she had gifts for them as well. So well thought out and executed ! Everyone was quite quite overwhelmed !

The guests at dinner were then treated to some special cooking by the wife and I have to say that even for ‘conservative indian vegetarian food addict me’ it was a delight. There was laughter and happy conversation, great revelations and stories of interest on the dining table, everyone holding tightly to their gifts off the christmas tree !

And as I sit down to pen my thoughts ( strange that we still use this expression even though there is the absence of the inked pen ), I am so nostalgic of the many christmas eves celebrated throughout these 68 years ! The midnight carol singing in the cold of northern India, the coffee breaks to keep us warm and awake, those visits to the neighbors and then the little gifts that we received when we went across. The special cake and pastry for the occasion. The mid night mass that we attended with all our friends in the nearby church and just such a feeling of warmth and happiness throughout. ” Those were the days, my friend .. “

A very large contingent of the FmXt visited me again today - its raining extended families her in Mumbai at my office - and it was such a joy to be with them and theirs, to exchange greetings and gifts brought across with such thoughtfulness and feeling. I am ever so grateful to them all and for their kindness and love. God bless you ! And I shall respond to each separately in time to come, thank you !

And as the year comes to an end, one cannot but feel a sense of sadness and jubilation all at once. The good that happened, the bad that overcame us. The trials we faced and the triumphs we accomplished. The faces we met, the situations we encountered. The distances we travelled, the territories we discovered. The love that we received, the abuse that we endured. The tears that we shed and the tears that we wiped. The laughter of loved ones, the playful presence of the young. That hand of help that you extended, that reprimand that you received. The feel and touch of reverence in divine company, the disappointment of unanswered prayer. The exhilaration of success, the remorse of failure. The joy of acquisition and equally its sudden loss.

And lastly - the benevolence of the Almighty through all of this and more …

Thank you Lord for your grace and sustained care ; to keep me human and with life !

Love