Hello February! I am glad you are here again! I love you so much. You make me happy, you make me smile, you fill my heart with love that I can only imagine. You make me bow down with gratitude and contentment.
Don’t you all feel the same way about February? To me, it is one of the most romantic months of the year. Not just because it has Valentine’s Day, but also because there’s something in the air that leaves you happy and content, with a smidgen of romance, of course. Though it is always what’s inside you that makes a day or a month happy or sad, but somehow February always had that old-world charm for me.
February is a month when, like a cliché, love indeed seems to be in the air, at least for half a month. Shopping malls are decked up in vibrant hues of red, there is an overexposure of heart-shaped structures all around you, whether it is the ‘kiryana’ store displaying heart-shaped chocolates, or a heart-shaped cream froth in your coffee, or even a random dish named ‘Heart Tere Naam’, (yes, I made that up). But there is no escaping the red hearts.
It has the perfect mix of weather when you can enjoy a pleasant sunny day. It is a relative silent month before the festive fun and chaos of Holi begins. It is also the time when you feel the urge to come out of the warm cosy quilts in which you have been embedded for almost the whole of January and probably last days of December too. Your body feels enthusiastic for some activity.
Making tea becomes the most blissful activity of my life. Preparing a meal seems like an art and not an everyday chore. Inviting friends for tea and chit chat becomes a ritual, sitting in the balcony sun cooking up plans to explore the city in the morning sun becomes the epitome of fulfilment. Exploring the beautiful old lanes of Delhi in the afternoons is still a possibility, gardens are blooming with flowers all around, there is a warmth of togetherness in families spending quality time in Lodhi garden and children out in the parks before the summers force them indoors. It is the time when you are cherishing the last bits of your solitude. Lying in bed reading a book or watching something on Netflix.
February is a month when something feels alive inside me. When the mundane things that I do the entire year-round somehow feels romantic. When I cherish my existence, thanking God for this beautiful life that has been bestowed upon me. When there is a sense of gratitude for everything, specially for having my loved ones around. When I get up and smile, coz there is no order to be followed for the day. In short, simply centering around your being seems like the only way you know to live life.
I am hoping to make the most of my February before the summers set in. Do share what February means to you.