Boxes

I've been asked more than once why I love boxes so much. I have them in all shapes and sizes with a plethora of things stored away in them. Recently I was looking for some papers and I opened up my old suitcase to find a shoebox full of memories we all seem to have. It has some pictures, some old negatives and a Hi8 cassette. This cassette has a video of a party that happened in one of my college friend's room. The interesting thing is that all of us shared our dreams in that tape. The tape ends with two of my friends chasing a rat and finally catching it. It's really pretty hilarious. This is all from memory ofcourse and I don't even know if this cassette works anymore but I will keep it for posterity.
Ever since I was a child I have kept things stowed away in a box. I spent a lot of time at my maternal grandmother's house as a child. There was a farm in front of the house and I spent a lot of time running around collecting beatles. I thought they were lost and I tried to give them a home in a plastic box. I would show them to my grandmother happily and she used to let them out when I wasn't looking. I could never figure out how they escaped every morning so I went out looking for them again determined to save them.
I collected loose change in match boxes so I could buy new pencils. I've always loved pencils and still do. You could read my post about how I stole a Leo Burnett pencil from a colleague's desk. The post is somewhere on this blog.Now I have a box for make up, for soaps, for jewellery that I never wear, for passports, for keepsakes, for anshuman's watch, for loose change, for stationary items, for anshuman's cuff links, for semi important papers, for important papers, for assorted wires, for bed sheets and pillow covers, for pictures and for things that I can't even remember.
It's the things that I forget that are the most important. When you open a box after a long time has passed by it suddenly brings the past back to your mind in it's full glory. It shows you things you may have forgotten that were once so very important. I try very hard to run from the past. I conciously try never to think about it. I have tried in my life to always live in the moment but nothing can take the place of the sheer beauty of nostalgia. And sometimes I give in and let myself be transported back for a few minutes till I find myself smiling and thinking to myself where did it go?
On a more practical note boxes are great for organizing stuff if you can remember what's in them. Almost all my friends bring me a box back from whichever country they happen to visit. Everyone knows if you want to make Parul happy, get her a box. So Anshuman brought back a lovely small box from Romania. It has three pearls on it and a picture of a little girl. There were three colourful beetles inside who are on my refrigerator now and look like they may fly away any second. So that's about why I have so many boxes. Also sometimes I wonder...may be I collect them because I'm secretive and possesive of my memories. May be...