“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens Brown paper packages tied up in strings These are a few of my favourite things.”

What are a few of YOUR favourite things?

By favourite things, I don’t mean your current favourite. I mean, what keeps giving you happiness every time it comes back? Every time you pass by. Every time you’re reminded of it. Every time you re-live it.

For me, I’ve always found it hard to pick a favourite. Whether it be a band or a colour or even a food. It’s hard to pick just one because many times they’re incomparable, like apples and oranges.

By favourite things, I mean, things that evoke a memory, that spark joy and make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

This point is perfectly illustrated in the movie ‘Ratatouille’ when Anton Ego, the food critic is transported back to his childhood with a bite of Remy’s simple, humble Ratatouille.

I have a few things that do just that. Every single time. They are yet again, the little things in life stimulated by our five special senses.

The smell of freshly baked bread and sponge cake from simple village bakeries as I pass by (this happened even recently on a camp visit from Aravind) and the smell of freshly baked apple cinnamon pie as it fills my own kitchen. Petrichor – a crowd favourite. It’s a smell I wish I could bottle and store. The same goes for Mancurad mangoes, actually. The smell of chlorinated swimming pools. I’ve always been a water baby. So, water most definitely, sparks joy.

The feel of a fresh new mask as it touches my face. A warm hug from a loved one. The joy I feel when I’m changing my bed linen and I know I’ll be sleeping on fresh, crisp sheets. The feel of my puppy’s cold nose against my cheek.

The sound of running fresh water and that of salty waves crashing against the shore. The music I’d listen to in my childhood that bring back all sorts of memories. Sometimes I can even remember the time and place I listened to that song last, who I was with and how it made me feel.

The sight of pictures in my old photo albums that take me back to simpler times, when life was less complicated and photographs were less posed. The sight of happy dogs with their humans. The sight of a new leaf on my plant. The sight, smell and taste of freshly brewed coffee. I’ll always be partial to coffee.

And lastly taste. Even though I am a huge foodie, the foods that spark this joy in me are simple. My Grandmother’s chicken curry recipe which my mom makes for us, her fragrant dal and the Betty Crocker chocolate cake with home-made frosting that she’d make for our childhood birthday parties at home!

So, I reiterate. What are your ‘favourite’ things? Best to make a tiny list for yourself because as Julie Andrews says,

“When I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things and then I don’t feel so bad.”