My Treasure Chest

It's like a champagne bottle was opened last night. Bursting and bubbling the memories poured and I basked in their sweet effervesence, nostalgia took over me and like a child playing with his toys, I was lost in time, playing with my treasured mementos. Many memories fade over time, with the everday-ness of lives taking over our being the past gets blurry. But a memento - a photo, a letter, a card, a gift or any other reflection of the past fills you with such joy and the good old times suddenly stand before you - like it were just yesterday!

I remember every Birthday, dear sister would surprise me with a hand-made card. She has always been a creative person (she almost got into NIFT Delhi but then she chose to go the intellectual way and is currently in IIM-C....Oh yes, I like to brag about her!) but the amount of heart she would put into each of her greetings made me feel so loved and blessed to have a sister like her! Remember these sis? All your cards have been preserved with love and care!

And then the letters came rolling out. Oh it's been more than a decade that I wrote a postcard or an inland letter. When Papa got transferred from Chennai to Kota back in 1998, and then again from Kota to Noida in 2000 I thought that life was really unfair. With a grumppy face I bid farewell to lovely friends in both these cities with whom I had shared the golden childhood days of being carefree, dreaming big, sharing secrets and what not! But we kept in touch and shared our worlds with each other through letters. I remember I was always very careful of my handwriting while writing to my friends and not so much when it came to doing the homework ;) Letters will always remain priceless, even in this digital era and Last night I sent messages to my long lost friends on FB sharing pictures of the epic letters they had written to me! We were so cute! :)

There is another letter that is very very special to me. When Papa got transferred to Kota we were yet to finish with our schooling session in Chennai. And this is when I received my first and only letter from Papa. Everytime I read this I want to hug him! Muuaah!! Ma-Pa, we are what we are today, because of you. You let us make own mistakes and learn from them, gently nudging us to the right path if at all we went astray!

Have I kept the best for the last? It's hard to say! Each and every memento is so special and has an equal place in my heart. But yesterday, going through my treasure chest, I re-discovered an old passion, handed over to me by dearest Grandfather, which I had been sadly neglecting for more than a year now. My beloved stamp collection! Nanaji, who worked with the Health and Family Welfare Dept. of U.P used to travel abroad for his assignments with W.H.O. It is in that period that he started his hobby of collecting stamps and coins from all over the worl. While the coin collection was passed on to my elder cousin brother, I was ecstatic when he handed me his stamp book. I beautified my stamp books with his and later my own collection, signing up with the Indain Posatl Service for regular first day covers, befriending pen friends etc. Thanks to this contest, I am going to take up my love for Philately again!

I want to thank two lovely ladies, Sangeeta and Meena for tagging me and Arti for hosting this fabulous contest! I would like Pixie, Sheethal and Sugandha to go hunting in their cupboards, chests and attics now and share their most memorable memento!

This post is my entry for the 'My Most Memorable Memento' contest conducted by

 My Yatra Diary travel blog and Indian Coupons.