Last eve of 2012

December is the most eagerly awaited month for me and I'm sure for many others.

The weather in December at Mumbai, a city in Western India where we live isn't any different from the rest of the year. In fact there's a joke about the seasons in Mumbai, it's summer, monsoon and summer. But let's be fair, in December it's less humid and the air is a bit nippy. And, just so it was this month - very pleasant in the mornings and late evenings.

The home front was funny as usual. It's a tradition in the family to plan Christmas well in advance, sometimes even before Easter. Menus, venues ET AL are finalised way ahead and then on Christmas day it's exactly the opposite of what was planned. It used to bother me in the early years of marriage, but now it's a standing joke between me and my daughter.

At the onset of Advent, I had talked a colleague at work into having a theme for Christmas decorations and getting everyone involved in it. Since India is a multi racial country, majority of the workforce are not Christians, so, it needed some explaining and expanding of ideas. We zeroed in on handmade wreaths – symbolizing eternal love. The experience was enjoyable as we huddled together during our lunch break. The end result was, we had nine decent looking wreaths. Each one had a story behind it. We'd start with an idea and end up with a different look altogether. It was fun!

In the last week of December we attended a beautiful wedding at the Juhu beach in Mumbai. Keeping in tune with the 'Beach Wedding' theme, the invitation came in a slim glass bottle with a little sand and tiny shells. The location was picture perfect with the couple exchanging vows at sunset.

The incident of the gang rape in Delhi, North India in mid December and the demise of the brave heart was a tragedy. But, the collective efforts of the teeming population brings a ray of hope. In my opinion, all else will fall in place once the mindset towards females in our country changes. Our mantra must be to revere a woman from 'womb to tomb.'

I share a message received on my cell phone that reads ' Let's pledge on the last eve of 2012 to take real good care of our selves as spare parts to old models are no longer in stock!!' Have a great 2013!!