Bonding Over Bonfire
By Geetanjali Sharma
It is a seasonal reminder that no matter how fit you have been through the year, winter will borrow your diet and replace it with a meal plan consisting of sweet, warm and sinfully delicious recipes.
Thick jackets, furry coats, high boots, and woollen chunky scarves with cozy caps rule the closets while the timeless yet fashionable Marius patterned sweaters steal compliments from those who have an eye for the charm of hand knit treasures. As the sun shines bright all day, almost every day over our city, Dehra wears its warmth well. On such winter mornings, admiring the swinging bamboos and spotting a purple bird in our lawn remains incomplete without a jug full of freshly squeezed orange juice and a hearty family chit chat.
From bringing in a festive ring to building new friendships, this is also the time to enjoy limited winter flavoured beverages and binge ‘holiday special’ movies on OTT platforms.
A wooden bench, a couple of recliner chairs, an old styled hand-woven bed with a bonfire in the middle is all you need to get a party going on chilly evenings. Dim fairy lights twinkling from behind the huge vine, palm trees standing tall in the corner and a string of paper machete bells hanging in the window on the side, convey a warm welcome to those gathered around.
It is the perfect time to bond, bond over bonfire!
This week we got a vintage fireplace started. It had been a part of our outdoor garden arrangement for years, but never a part of our family discussions. This season, after some dusting, the fireplace lit beautifully, brightening up our spirits and musical moods.
The golden orange flames illuminating everyone’s faces, warming up the room and cooling off tensions were the perfect winter addition. Such times allow you to exist and enjoy the moment, and bond with the group while keeping the bonfire going. Be it with your family or a select group of friends, winter without warmth is like a writer without wisdom.
Winter is a beautiful time to bond with yourself too.
Wake up on a cold day, slip into your furry robe and slide on your carpet slippers. Prepare yourself a steaming cup of coffee and spend time with your pets, plants or partner. Everything slows down during this time of the year and so should you. Find your cozy corner once the day lets you find some time and continue reading from page forty-seven which starts with, ‘It’s not always you who needs an answer. Many a times it’s the one you expect to hear from who needs to be spoken to, with love and respect.’
Take out time to reconnect. Rediscover your wish list and fulfil it. Warm up to yourself and let go of all that is holding you back.
Treat yourself with some mulled wine while the bonfire season is still here for you to bond and build a community of your own. Travel if you must, to keep connections alive. You can be distant from those you share a pincode with or share an everlasting bond with those you meet once in a decade.
The bonfire ritual will be missed as more than just a reason to hangout once the summer swings back in. It is a blessing to build new ties, strengthen existing ones, and be the silent one to let the quieter ones open up, in the glow of dying cinders.
Chilly fingertips and rosy noses, the cold weather brings out a flushed glow, freezes smiles and thaws hearts, adding to the charm of the present. To the bonfire that binds it all together and leaves a long-lasting sense of belonging and warmth!
(Geetanjali Sharma is an author and communications specialist. She holds a post-graduate degree in international communication from Macquarie University, Australia.)
