Happy moments!

A lazy, dull Sunday afternoon. One of those days when you feel like doing nothing at all. Absolutely nothing. When you are bored out of your mind.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and a few of your relatives drop in. They have decided to pay you a surprise visit. A short time later, a few of your friends also drop in.

In a few moments, voices fill the bleak confines of the home. Idle chit chat and laughter drift in the air. Everyone wants to share in the fun. No one wants to be left out. Everyone congregates at the same place and everybody says something. There is an uproar, but no one complains. Everyone shouts at a higher pitch to be heard above the din.

A kid starts crying. There is a lot of cooing and cuddling. A feeding bottle is prepared instantly.

Someone switches on the TV. Patti's 'Sunday Samayal' continues in the backdrop along with the discussions on various subjects.

Cups of tea are made and shared. Packets of snacks pass on from one hand to another.

Old family snapshots are brought out and there is much laughter and excitement. Statements like 'Oh! How cute!' and 'Where am I at the time of your wedding, amma?' are heard among the din.

Marriage ceremony CDs are played and everyone huddles together to watch the couple being united in the holy bond of matrimony on the computer screen for the umpteenth time. Again, there is a lot of oohing and aahing.

The house is in the state of pleasant confusion. The house that is usually spic and span is all in chaos. A shoe here, a sock there. A teether here, a ball there. Someone's purse lying on the bed. Someone's cell and keys lying on the table.

There is a lot of hullabaloo all around. But the house is very much alive. And happy. The normally silent walls of the house seem to be smiling too!