A list of things that make me smile

1. I love the warmth in people’s eyes and voices when they talk about people they love.
The gentleness in describing how his hair covers his eyes or the sweet reminiscing when
they come across that one song you know they love. The small moments when
mindlessly scrolling on Instagram you come across the perfect meme that takes you
back to the evening spent laughing together. I love it, every bit of it.

2. I love memory boxes. Boxes full of half torn notebook pages, with inside jokes that we
hid from teachers, polaroids of nights we will never forget. Handwritten thank you’s and I
love you’s. Perhaps the reason I find them so endearing and special is because they’re
permanent memories, you can’t just erase them by the click of a button. Boxes that take
you back and feel like a big warm hug.

3. I love warm and welcoming rooms filled with love, laughter and memories. Fairy lights
strung in the back, vanilla scented candles with ‘Sham’ playing in the background.
Weirdly specific, but when you enter a room like this, your heart is at ease.

4. I love excited facetime calls, where there is more screaming than talking. Mutual
screaming without knowing what the other is excited about. The light that illuminates the
faces with sheer joy and contentment. I love it’s warmth.

5. I love the romanticisation about rainy days. I love when people thank the sky for it’s
theatrics, knowing very well it’s science. The excitement of taking out your hot chocolate
mugs, staring outside your window, playing 80’s bollywood music and taking a 1000
boomerangs to get that chai and pakoda’s instagram story.

6. I love cozy crevices in bookstores, with floor cushions on the hardwood floors. Walking
around, spending a good amount of time on each book, holding it up and taking in that
new book smell. I love sitting on those hardwood floors, getting lost in another dimension
and walking out with heavy bags full of books and those complimentary handmade
bookmarks.

7. I love reunions, over-excited furry friends jumping all over and you and tackling you to
the ground. Long hugs at airports, where in that moment you forget all your worries. The
sweet reunion of old friends, reminiscing on the embarrassing stories of your childhood.
The warmth of coming ‘home’ and eating your mother’s rajma chawal.

8. I love the simplicity of long drives. Wind flying through your hair, limbs stuck out of the
window, carefree. Closed eyes and happy smiles with Khwaabon Ke Parindey playing in
the background.

9. I love the warmth in people’’s eyes who hold the door for an endless amount of time, not
worrying about it wasting their time, smiling and greeting every passerby.

10. I love the comfort in those safe spaces in the city, those parks, where you stop and stare
at the flowers, the one rooftop where you once laughed the night away. I love the
attachment to them, the warmth they offer.