10 things of '10

The look on my face must have been priceless, for she burst out laughing! Yes, I was surely stumped, by a silly fact when someone told me that 2010 was ending! WHAT… SO SOON! Oh man, just when I was getting used to ending my dates with 10 (pun unintended), it was time to change…. So not fair, I cried!

Well, stupid remarks aside, 2010 has just flown by…. I guess, it’s the same with most good years… and looking back, 2010 has been one of the better ones, for sure :) And like all the people who matter and those who don’t, I have my own views on how the year was, for me!

I have had an O. K. 2009, so when I did look back at the post I did, welcoming 2010 I realized that most of the stuff written in there still holds so true… and most of all, I did actually follow and do a lot of the things I had written in there... well, that’s a first!

So, technically speaking, 2010 was more of learning from 2009 and as happens with most of the “good times” in our lives, we learn little, live a lot and (as happens with me) become even more restless! Sure, I like a good life, but then, it gives you pretty staid topics to blog about, right...especially if you’re blogging after ages and what you write looks rustic)

Cutting short my stupid rambling, here are the things that made 2010 memorable, in no random order…

Laughter: Hell, I have laughed more in this year than the last 2 years together! Don’t get me wrong, my life isn’t that bad, that I remember each time I laughed, but I have surely laughed my head out on so many occasions and with so many different people, that its been an pretty good! :)

Vacation: I have seldom taken a month long vacation, after I began working. Rather, I used to think, I would go crazy if I ever was off work for more than a week… workaholic and all that. Turns out, most of it is bullshit. My entire February was spent in Bangalore. How I fell in love with that city, which had an amazing (though dry) weather and an awesome cake shop! But what really made it the most memorable was the people I was with. Each one of them made it special. The late nights, the dancing, the crazy stuff I can’t squeal here and the amount of food and sweets! Yay!! 

But, even after Feb, I have been on these silly short trips more than a couple of times, with different set of people, and it has been amazing every time! Now, I suppose it’s time to get over the laziness quotient and get myself a passport and go international! (Please stop rolling your eyes, guys!)

People: 2010 has been a lot about people! New friends, old acquaintances, and plenty of people somewhere in the middle. Made my share of mistakes, others made their too… but thankfully, sensibilities prevailed! I love it, when people you’ve known in what seems like a previous life & lost touch with, suddenly re-enter your life in a pretty different avatar! It’s like unlearning quite a bit about them and knowing them again! Mostly a pleasure :)

  

            Marriage: Not mine…. Yet! But my close friends, for sure. So many of them got married in ’10 that it could easily be re-christened to be the year of weddings! (Sorry, 2009). And here is an interesting insight… for someone who loathes attending family weddings (unless they are close), I actually had a blast in each of my friend’s weddings! Surprising! Maybe it was the fact that seeing them happy and beaming was contagious… maybe it was coz I was out of option, or maybe it was because of the behind the scenes goss I was a part of… but friends’ marriages were fun!

Arranged Marriage: HA HA HA… I cant believe I am actually writing this, but the entire process of “Arranged Marriage” has pretty much changed me, in a few ways! For starters, it got me to re-look the entire question of “what I want”…. Since I got my answer to “what I don’t want”! At the cost of risking my entire future and sounding stupid, let me say this…. When it comes to these things, instinct wins over logic! By far!!

Work: Bummer, u say?! Hehehe… I love my work and well, it was amazing this year! All the stuff seemed easier to manage, people easier to lead and work more interesting than ever! Hopefully, this is the beginning of an upward curve! Wish I could share most of my work insights here, but I doubt they’d make sense…

Patience: THE VIRTUE to have! Seriously!! I can’t imagine how I could get by life so far without having any of it, and trust me, I lack it big time! But 2010 has definitely made me so much more patient. Sometimes, one needs to have patience for not only oneself but even for others around you. And boy, its hard… really hard! A lot of things make so much more sense over time, and patience makes you a better person!

Ya, this seems to be as much as I could write for now…. Maybe could update this some other time as well! So, people, happy New Year and all that jazz! Hope 2011 is an awesome year… and make sure, you make it awesome… coz you never know, the world might end in 2012! :P

Oh, and just another note to people (not everyone, you know who you are): I am cybernating right now… yep, off web… no emails/ no chat/ no facebook (Deactivated)/ no twitter…. Not for some time… Brining in the new years in a remote place, just the way I want to…. Quietly and at peace…. But, this cybernation may go on for more than that…. (typically me, na!)… So, don’t fret and fume if you don’t hear from me for a while now… Enjoy it, while it lasts ;)

  

09 lessons of 2009

Warning: It's going to be a pretty long post, so fasten your belts !


Hello people, been a real long time since i had a chance to blog about something which i felt like writing about! There have been quite a lot of things happening of late, plentiful things which have had much of an impact, on me, but wasn't sure i would be comfortable writing about every small (relatively) thing happening in my life! (WTH, am just giving a reason for my procrastination :P ) And after spending a year, in which i turned 24, got a few more grey hair, re-discovered a couple of philosophies, became a Company Secretary, discovered what hostel life can be, made a few good new friends, lost touch with quite a few, saw most of my close ones getting married/ committed/ engaged, etc and had real trouble adjusting to the change in my position and expectations of people around me and myself, changed to the point i couldn't recognize my own self in the mirror, had a lowdown, and returned, celebrated my birthday for the first time in the last three years, and probably will 'not-be-studying' for the New Years, in an equally long gap, this year has taught me quite a lot! Not that i had an absolutely amazing time or anything, but i wouldn't substitute it for anything!

So, here is a list of NINE things i learnt in the year of 2009 (trust me, the list could have easily been longer):

09 - Change, before you HAVE to ! Sticking on to the past, refusing to change, is just going to make you end up in a real bad shape. So, accept CHANGE, make it your friend, for it makes for a very BAD Enemy!

08 - Never say NEVER. Each of us change, each of us gets on with life, seldom does anyone stay where we left them, and hence, neither do relations. They will always evolve! Your best friend, at some point of time, would not have a clue of what you are undergoing currently, or a one-time hated personality, could turn into one of the closest buddies, you could have asked for... the point here is: Judgment + Perception + Our Thoughts = Very bad basis for determining the people in our life.

07 - *ALL Quite a few young men think from their Pants. Period.

06 - Friendship is a completely relative term. And so are most other things in life. The point is, everything and everyone is Grey. Only old movies are Black and White. So, you can either sit on the fence, judge and criticize them and blabber all that you want, or you can jump in, have fun and enjoy the whole 'being human' experience, which it guarantees you!

05 - You will give in to peer and societal pressure at some point of time, in life. No matter, how head strong, how pragmatic and how focussed you are. You will give in! And when you do, especially, if you are used to being an independent and strong individual yourself, chances are you will be terrible depressed, frustrated and probably wont recognise your own face in the mirror! If that ever happens to you, turn around and reclaim your life right away... i know cases, where it has been way way too late!

04 - You are what you read ! And, business wisdom books, self help books, and philosophy books, actually make a very good read (not really the pop psycho ones, but the actual good ones). Ayn Rand, might be a feminist writer, but she is still one helluva female! Oh, and Book Shopping during weekends can be very addictive and harmful for your financial health!

03 - You can have amazing fun with people you hardly know! You just need to be open to the idea of sharing space, thoughts and your time and energy with strangers who could be really different from you, than be closed to everyone about you!

02 - Management: Its all about the people, really! All you need to do is shift the focus from ME and MINE to YOU and YOURS. Management is no freaking cake walk, and taking the crap from clients and superiors for the mistakes done by your sub-ordinates is no fun, in any way, but it does make you think, gets you curious to understand people and more importantly understand and realize things about you, which may have been glaringly obvious to others, but not so much to you (read: lack of patience, need to be nice to people, etc) In short, Management is taking all your people theories in one basket, adding huge responsibility and limited resources factor in it, and turning it completely upside down!

and

01 - Most people CAN'T THINK ! Never has it been so glaringly obvious to me, than in the recent past, that people never or seldom use their intrinsic logical and reasoning power in any matters of their lives. Blame it on the education system, on the way our society runs or any other factor... But THIS is a very very irritating factoid, i had to discover the hard way!

Phew.... and they said 2009 was a happy year... yea, if you say so :P

Wishes for the New Years

Firstly, a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year to ALL of you!! Nevermind that the first month of the year has already passed and all the new year hoopla has settled in! Yet, I want to wish all of you a very happy new year 2008!! :)

My wish may seem wierd, but this year did not exactly start on a great note (was a rather bad start, if i may say so!!). But things are just changing for the better and the future looks much brighter now, than it did on December 31, 2007, when i was wondering, if there was something to welcome for in the new year!! Little did i know, one month gone and i would already be on a life changing track! :)

The concept of new years has always bemused me. The festivities that mark the change in a digit of the year are always combined with starting the first day of the so-called-new-year with a hangover...LOL. Don't call me a cynic...yet! I enjoy the hype and hoopla, but what i don't understand is, why do we rejoice for a change in the date, when the actual reason for celebration should be a change in us or ur lives, in a positive way! I mean, just because we ushered in Jan 1, 2008 with a bang, does not mean it will be great for us all through, or if the new year's eve was disastrous enough to make us cringe, the whole year would be the same way too?....Would it?

For me the past year has been one of my BEST!... and for more reasons than one... be it the month long trip to Banglore, some amazing new friends and the experiences they got, the joy of getting somewhere in my career, enjoying the progress in my friends' lives and acquiring different skills in general... my growth satisfied me... and let me tell you, my last new year's eve was spent studying for an exam : :

Am looking forward to an exciting year ahead... and the chances of it getting exciting are pretty evident at the moment... Hope you have a great year ahead too! :)

And speaking of my friends... here's wishing Sakshi my heartiest congratulations and best wishes for her new assignment in Sydney... Hope to meet you there in June!! :D

My Best Wishes to both Neema and Roshni, who appear for the CET in a week's time.

My prayers with Riddhi .... who is nothing short of being a Union Leader in the waiting!! :D

My Best Wishes to my blogging friends: Ajan for his new job (which although related to somputers, has made him as distant from this world, as possible) ;

Purnima for her French Exam Results (may she keep learning those new french swear words...and passing them on!!) ;

Mithun for his ballet dancing assignments (Russian circus in Hyderabad, i last checked!!) ;

Shantala for WRITING something in her posts (she writes well...hehehe) and

Tejaswini (for finding a cell phone with Radio in it!!)....Keep Blogging guys, some exciting lives u lead!! :).... it's something i wish just gets better this year! :)

To rest all: Keep Smiling friends... have a great year ahead!!!

Cheers for now!