2010 and the year ahead

Another year is passing by. With it, I once again realise that I’ve never felt anything special on a New Year’s eve. I guess the only purpose it serves for me is to make me look back upon what I have done during the past year and what more there is to do during the coming year. Even today, I am going to do exactly that.

Let me start with saying that 2010 will always be special because of Sachin. He scored a 200 in an ODI, the 50^th hundred in test cricket and many other feats which need an entirely separate blog post. 2010 will always be remembered for being the year when we once again saw the rise of the star, and oh, such a rise!

Apart from cricket, I started reading again. I read about 14-15 novels, watched three amazing TV series: Two and a half Men,Boston Legal and House, completed 70 per cent of the Clint Eastwood filmography and started listening to Pearl jam and Mike Oldfield.

On the career front, this year has been quite good and satisfying. I cleared CFA-I and FRM-I, switched jobs, changed my city.

On the front of life, however, this has been tremenndous year. Rather, a rockstar year, where I saw lot of ups and some downs.

I met Anuja and Parul – people from a very different background. It was like seeing life from a completely different perspective. These guys are responsible for shaping my blog the way it is now. Earlier, it used to be full of whimsy posts, but these people restricted me and guided me towards good writing. Anuja is one of the finest political reporter ever. She is committed and energetic, and I am very sure she will get whatever she wants in life. Parul is the most exceptional writer I have ever seen. Any post, no matter what the length, is mesmerizing. Her writing is filled with the pure, unadulterated scent of nature and joy. I am sure great things are just waiting to happen to her. I guess the time spent with them in Chennai will always be one of the best times I’ve ever had. And moreover, I saw the side of Delhi I would never have been able to see without these guys.

I shifted to Bangalore which, as I have already written tones of times, is a city full of friends. In the five months here, I have grown to understand why Delhi means so much to Parul and what Mumbai is for Paplu. I think I am falling in love with this city.

Konark and Chhavi are the people who make this city special. Konark and I were counting and we realized that we have been friends for 10 whole years now! I realise it now that he is the guy responsible for making me whatever I am. I was just a bloody nerd before I met him. And for Chhavi - I can’t say anything! She is one of the finest individuals I have ever met. I discover so much about life and myself while talking to her. Being with her amazes me, making me wonder how strong and hardworking a person can be.

I guess I was saving the best for the last – Ravi and Jadoo, the two guys with whom I share the flat. I can’t remember even a single dull moment in the last five months. It has been a rocking life with these guys around. Though sometimes I miss the Friday ritual which I used to share with Jadoo while we were in Chennai, but I guess here everyday is a Friday night.

I met Harshi on and off, and it was good being friends with her again and to find her doing amazingly well in life.

Apart from all the good things, there have been a couple of sad moments. I left Chennai, and now I regret why I never felt close to my old roommates, Pattrow and Abhishek. They are amazing people. Today, when I have left the place, I miss them. There are memories and very strong memories, which come again and again and make me wish I could relive that life again

The most painful day was the day Paplu left for Mumbai. A person who has been more than a friend, a family for me far from home for the last five years, the guy with whom I have shared my life and dreams, the partner in crime for all those years and even then five years seem like five minutes. No one can ever take the place of Paplu in my life, but I am happy he is doing what he always wanted to do. Bloody investment banker. Asshole.

Somehow the track with Anuja got lost. We don’t talk much. Our lives are different. I am not even sure if we are friends anymore. But it’s the choice we made. I don’t regret it but losing a friend is the toughest thing for me. Since the time I can remember, friends have been my family. I don’t know why, but I am indifferent to my real family. I feel ashamed of it, but I can’t feel the connection. So, in the end it’s just the friends I have.

This reminds me, this year I am going to try harder to reconnect with my family.

I will travel more.

I hate myself for being such a procrastinator that I haven’t devoted any time for charity. I am for sure I am going to do that this year.

In the beginning of the year I decided to write 73 posts during the year. And I am lagging way behind it. To be very true, I am not sure how much I am going to write this year. I am losing the attraction towards writing pretty fast.

In the end, I just can't thank my fellow blogmates, who have been a major support, enough... Your blogs and comments give me somuch to think. They give altogether a different perspective about everything around me. I mean there are literally no words.I hope you will understand the feeling.

I guess it's been a long ranting post. Let me end this with something on the line of the tagline used in advertisements for Hyundai Accent six years ago -- “I thank the holy god, I thank all my blogmates, I thank all my family, I thank all my friends – without whom I would have been just another guy spending just another year.”