Souvenirs...

Remnants from my childhood…
A dungaree set made by Ma for my favourite doll – this fat stuffed doll that Papa had brought back for me from England, that I refused to give away. I still have her – used to call her Annabelle and at one time, even Moti
Some of my favourite books from childhood - I couldn’t bring myself to give them to nieces/nephews as I did scores of other books.
Deutschlandrëise - a German board game that involves making a planned trip around Germany. It was a gift from one of Papa’s colleagues and an addiction for years amongst my building friends.
Two of my favourite hair-clips that Papa brought back from one of his trips to – they are these huge bows made from satin – big reminders of the time when I had thick, waist-length hair! Ah those days…
The very first bottles of perfume gifted to me – miniature bottles of L’Air du Temps – Nina Ricci (when I was 5 years old) and a few years later, Contradiction – Calvin Klein. Yes, I’ve been using them since that tender age – classy right from the beginning ;-)
The duvet I used as a child (embroidered by Ma of course, as were many of childhood clothes), the kurta from my school uniform autographed all over by batch-mates from the batch of 1997 (shit it’s been a decade! I’m old!), the Arya Samaji stole given to each and every student who graduates from Arya Vidya Mandir.
Pages from my school dairy, class photographs, essays written by me during school years (including one very embarrassing essay, extolling the virtues of a beauty queen that K and I foolishly considered beautiful in our childhood ignorance of true beauty!)…
Certificates, so many of them, that I got each year in Arya Vidya Mandir, some that make me proud (from when I topped or stood in the top 3 in class), some that make me roll my eyes – who else would get certificates in handwriting, in diligence, in sincerity as a student?
Diaries, that recorded in scrupulous detail events and emotions that marked my college years, including my first attempt at love/relationships that leave me cringing in horror at my naivety! Quite a few painful moments in there as well, which make me think it’s time the diaries went…
The key-chain made from cow-leather (and which made my hands stink each time I carried it, for nearly a year after I started using it!)Papa brought back from Milan, Italy. It still has the keys from our home in Gayatri.

Curios and souvenirs of special moments in my life…
A caricature on a tissue-paper made by K, the very first time we went to Mondegar together – each and every memory of our many South-Bombay trips brings a smile instantaneously to my face.
Letters, postcards and cards – from Papa when he was in Venice in the 80’s; from A, after our first gigantic fight, when we patched up and truly became friends for life; from K when I was in Magdeburg, from friends across the globe.
From my sojourn in Magdeburg, Germany in December 2003 – pine needles, a maple leaf, pebbles from the beach in Lacanau, a good-luck charm gifted to me by a friend’s grandmother, tickets from the various trips I made in Germany, France and Sweden, brochures and postcards from all the places I visited, my Vodaphone SIM card…
Corks from wine bottles opened on special occasions, evenings that I’ll cherish forever – the first bottle of wine I finished all by myself, the Montbazillac I shared with K, the bottle from A’s farewell soirée, one from the many bottles opened recently on K’s birthday, yet another from a Provençal wine, opened on a magical evening…
…and of course all my photographs, each and every one of them is worth three times their weight in gold!:-)