(December 30, 9:57pm)

Feeling guilty.. I'm holidaying in Patna.. Was scheduled to travel back to New Delhi today, but could not... A hassled journey kept me down, and I wouldn't be able to join work tomorrow..

Patna, in the meantime, is bitterly cold..

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I somehow dragged myself to the Archies gallery near my apartment... opposite of Convent...

The same shop I first visited as an eighth grader when we shifted to this place many, many years ago...

Many, many years.. that sounds dramatic to me.. Wasn't it yesterday.. Muma still in college, teaching Mathematics.. and I in school... making plans for the future...

Plans to become a journalist... with mumma always trying to help me culture my interest in literature.. yet, silently in her mind, sceptical of my choice of career..

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The Archies was a weekend haunt... this double storey shop, along the kindergarten ward of the Convent, with beds of different hues of flowers greeting you, had everything to perk up your leisurely hunt for gift items..

Diaries... table top calendars.. slam books.. tiny to big statues of gods, tribal dancers, Egyptian figures.. wind chimes.. when I was in school, wind chimes were craze.. I don't see many people buying them now.. at least not with same excitement..

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The gentleman at Archies, who has seen me grow up from a school student to journalist, was delighted to see me..

The conversation branched onto many subjects, including politics, and it was not before one hour that I left the shop with a new year diary.. He gave me a Rs 60 discount on an item of Rs 499.. unsolicited..

I wished him happy new year...

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