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| Family pose on V-day in Goa. |
It was only after Sunday Mass today that it dawned on me that it was Valentine's day. What with the exegesis on the reading about Jesus curing the man with leprosy and its dire connotations with Corona, one really did not have the stomach to celebrate. A feeble 'Happy Valentine's Day' uttered by the parish priest in conclusion (after the church announcements), was all that we had to go on. In a few days it would be Ash Wednesday when festivities would be officially frowned upon to maintain the decorum of Lent.
Once home I thought it was up to us to make it special. Dwayne made the first move when he showed us a card he had made on the laptop using a feature called Paint. It was beautiful. Next I fished out the CDs of love songs which Queenie bought for us on V-day 10 years back. I rearranged the speakers - for such is my wont - for the best sound and slipped into my room to complete some work.
As the songs cascaded over us we were transported back in time. 'Show me the meaning of being lonely' (Backstreet Boys), 'Regressa a mi' (Il Divo), and 'I'm with you' (Avril Lavigne) put us on the page we were a decade ago. The more we recalled those moments - when I flew from Delhi for a day on V-day 2010 to wish Queenie - the more we began to be thankful for the precious years we have had together. Some of the lyrics were so right. One of them was 'Amazed by you' by Lonestar. The classic 'I love you because' by Jim Reeves showed that we had lived the lines.
We decided to go out for a bite for lunch. I had finished my work and was in a mood to celebrate. But not before we wore matching outfits to mark the day. Queenie's choice of location was perfect. We spent a lazy Sunday poolside and took in the gorgeous sea. Incidentally, it was the first time we had ventured out on our own volition - sans any invitation - since the lockdown was lifted. From March 2020 to Feb 2021 it's been a long journey, battling the virus.
As we sped home we continued to play the MP3 on the car audio system. We reached home with track 54. Air Supply and 'All out of love' were with us all the way. It was nice to see a burger truck decorated with red heart-shaped balloons at CHOGM road, Porvorim. Cafe de Goa, Saligao offered special Valentine's day fare and was also gaily decorated with similar balloons. On the pretext of V-day a shoe major was offering 50% off on certain items.
It was a nice day. We made it more meaningful because we celebrated it. It would be very different if we had just let it pass. Track 55 is Natalia Imbruglia with 'Torn'. We should be able to listen to it before the close of day. The last track in 'You' by Ten Sharp.
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