Yeah, yeah, yeah, tag time again. But for once, it is a nice one. A cuddly-wuddly, squidgy one. And of course Ams tagged me on to it! So here goes:

I am to list

1. ten things I miss having in my life now
2. ten things I hope to accomplish in the next decade

Oh boy! Next decade – scary thought, that! Esp as I am staring the big 3-0 in the face and I cannot, for the life of me, envisage staring at the bigger 4-0. And, this is a big and, my itty bitty baby boy will be a teenager! GAK! Anyhoo, here’s ten things I miss having in my life just now.

1. I miss the fact that I cannot just take a rick and land on my gran’s doorstep and let her spoil me rotten. And get her to make me upma with contraband (read onions) !
2. The last time I was at college, I used to get up well after 8 AM, have a lazy coffee and grub at the right time, which miraculously appeared on demand, pocket money and a licence to roam the streets of Chennai. Things cannot be any more different this time around!
3. Hanging out with my mates – didn’t appreciate it enough when I could do it whenever. Now, when I go for days without getting the opportunity for a good chinwag, I so miss having the girlfriends around.
4. Going to the beach – there’s nothing to beat going to Elliot’s beach as the sun is setting. The English beaches always leave me with the feeling of ‘is this it?’
5. Gangothri – that delectable haven of chaat and assorted stuff, opposite Stella Maris, which was one of my favourite joint throughout my college years and where the bhaaisaab did his best to remove my stomach lining. Ahh!
6. Summer holidays from when I was a wee thing, which were spent guarding the vathal from the evil crows – which meant we get to eat the half-dry vathal and blame it on the winged beasts. BWAHAHA!
7. Sitting on the walls of the colony well in the grounds of Krupa Colony, under the shady gulmohar trees and watching the world go by.
8. Those innocent days of fun when going out with friends meant a samosa at Hot Chips and a Tamil movie at Udhayam theatre. When we graduated to Sathyam Theatre complex, boy did we feel grown up or what?
9. The auto ride to the Std X board exam centre with my gang of friends – and being chided by my once-close friend on my woefully lacking prep!
10. Sitting around vetti on an afternoon surrounded by the whole family including my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Though my granddad invariably shouted us down or hogged the remote, it was still fun!

Now for the second, arguably difficult part of the tag. Ten things I’d like to do before I hit 40! (Ye gods!) Well, I made a fundu list for the 3-0 – I think I did about 2 out of the 10. Let’s hope I have better luck with this one!

1. Bunjee – I really, really want to bunjee jump. Possibly somewhere spectacularly scenic like Switzerland or NZ.
2. Visit New Zealand. It has been my dream place to visit since Lord of the Rings. Oh and Ireland too. The West Country, to be exact.
3. Learn to play the veena. I started learning and as with everything with me, lost interest after about 3.5 seconds and that was the end of that. No, I’m lying – I lost interest when I tightened the strings a bit over zealously and the ruddy thing twanged and slashed me across my face!
4. Go trekking – which means getting decently fit first!
5. Get a driving licence. Anyone who laughs will be shot unceremoniously.Ditto for swimming. Ditto threat.
6. Get back into pre-Pratik shape. Double ditto threat.
7. See the Taj Mahal in the moonlight. Hopefully that’ll mean less hawkers and gawkers around and the joint will seem less blah and more wowee in the soft light.
8. Get a pet dog. A Labrador who comes to me as a wee pup and then grows up to tower over us all. Who scares the pants of anyone who comes near but dissolves into a puddle when I pet him
9. Have my own company – terribly successfu, of course, making us pots of money.
10. Another baby – a girl this time. sigh

Ok time to pass it around. Don’t beat me up, saddos. This is such a nice tag to do so wipe that grim look off your faces and hop to it. With that, I tag Apu, Dee, Suj and MM.

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