My most memorable memento

I am hopelessly in love with a memory. An echo from another time, another place. — Michael Faudet

That pretty much sums me up. I have a truckload of memories, and even a heavier burden of mementos. Things that I refuse to let go lest I lose that part of my life. At my home in Guwahati, I have stashed away in some corner a treasure trove of such sentiments. Bound with a rubber band lie a bunch of letters, from my cousins and friends, letting me know about their new lives far away from home. Then there are the cards, gaily wishing ‘happy birthday’ and few sighing ‘I am sorry’.  Colorful strips of friendship bands, trinkets with my name, slam books asking ‘who is your favourite actor, your secret crush…’ 

My bag used to be choc-a-block with stuff that perhaps I did not need much, but they were that much more precious. I was told that I was a fool to hold on to such things after the bag snatching incident, which had left me with a scar. And yet, I continued to hoard up till the time I had to leave home and start living in a fast city, scrunched up in a small room. 

When Arti from My Yatra Diary asked us about one object that we would never want to part with, I was totally at a loss. Life had changed quite a lot. Unlike the times when I could tell who had given which card, even if they were absolutely identical, today I find it hard to keep track of things that I’d myself bought. 

I sat down and thought hard. And then it came. My most treasured memento. The gift of time, given to me by my husband, when we were in Goa just after marriage. My watch had stopped working there for some reason. We were passing by various stalls by the beach side when my husband stopped and picked up this quaint little watch. It was a simple one with an elastic wrist band, not like the typical sea shell ones. But the essence of the ocean was there, in the little conch drawn on the dial. It stopped working a long time back but I have always carried it in my bag. It reminds me of the days of sunshine, crashing waves, the motorcycle rides along Goa’s backwaters and the unrestrained laughter. It reminds me of happy times.

This post is my entry for the ‘My Most Memorable Memento’ contest conducted by My Yatra Diary travel blog and Indian Coupons.

I am nominating the following lovely bloggers:

Aditi

Anita

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