The traditional wrap-up post for 2015 - the year that was!!

And so, we are back with the traditional year-end post.

I love traditions. They make me feel secure, that everything is right with the world at that moment. Be it daily, monthly or those randomly regular ones, they make me feel contented. Like those temple visits on festival days, or how it always rains on Christmas Eve. New dresses for special occasions, midnight birthday wishes, Appa’s rituals before the Shiva poojai in the morning, Amma’s chanting of the Lalitha Sahasranamam, the good morning and goodnight messages, the messages that come checking up on you, asking if lunch was done or whether you have reached a particular place, the hugs, or the random ruffles on the hair. I take note of quite a few of these traditions. I derive my sense of stability and comfort from them. I wait for them with an anticipation that belies the nonchalance I portray. Even if one of them gets missed or is out of place, I get antsy. A little nervous, like something is going wrong.

This year-end wrap up is like that. The year does not feel complete without one of these on the blog. It is a tradition that has come up over the last couple of years. A sort of wind-down on the happenings of the year. A way of looking back over the year that has been and one that will herald the New Year into our midst. I cannot miss this for any reason. :) Something about this makes me feel good when I write. :)

This year, 2015, has been a good one. Lots of fun was had, many trips were done, a bucket list item was checked off, and a few wishes have come true... All in all, a DARN GOOD YEAR!

I am thankful for this year. It has been a while since I felt about a year like that. I cannot remember the last time that I was happy that a particular year has gone well. This year however, I am grateful and appreciative of whatever it has sent my way.

I gave up making New Year resolutions a few years back. I just do not have the tenacity to stick onto them. They feel a lot like rules and I for one am not too fond of rules. Therefore, I put them down as wishes, things that I would like to do. This year has been one that I have managed to complete most of whatever I wished for. As I stated in my previous blog, I travelled a lot this year. Memorable ones, out of which three were road trips, two were to destinations I had previously travelled to, but still were more fun than the last times and on top of my list is the one where I checked off a much-awaited thing off my bucket-list. Yes! I am talking about the bungee jump. You can see that I’m quite proud of it :P I also managed to read a lot this year, all thanks to the Kindle I was gifted. I completed my reading challenge of 24 books in a year, another achievement that I am quite proud of.

This year there have been more of the fun moments than lessons, for which I am thankful. It has been a year of acceptance, one of letting go. It has been a year of knowing that there are things outside my control, things that I cannot do anything about. This year the regrets have been fewer, the smiles a lot more.

My wish for 2016 is quite simple.

For the coming year, I hope for more of the madness, magic and only some of the mundane.

I hope for more of the journeys, more of fun and more of joy all around.

I hope and wish all of you, oodles of ecstasy, and masses of good health, heaps of wealth and truckloads of cheer all year around! :)

 I wish you all a wonderful year ahead, one where you live life to the fullest, one where you smile, look back and say, what a year it has been! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ;-)

A gap-filler tag from Sunday Stealing before the traditional New Year wrap-up post :)

1. What did you do in 2015 that you had never done before?

Travelled almost every month :)

Finished my Reading Challenge of 24 books in 12 months. :)

Petted a few stray Dogs, a Rabbit, a Parakeet, an Elephant and a Tiger :)

Played in the snow:)

Did the world’s tallest bungee jump – personal achievement unlocked.:)

Survived sub-zero temperatures :)

Quit my job :)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My primary resolution was to travel a lot. Which I think I did :) I am definitely going to have this resolution for the next year as well along with a few more.:)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One. She had a beautiful baby girl. :)

4. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2015?

Patience. Going with the flow. Waiting for the tide to turn.

5. What was your favorite new TV program?

Quantico. Yes! Say what you want, but I think it is quite interesting.

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

Work satisfaction.

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Sep 27^th 2015 – Lifetime achievement unlocked – world’s tallest bungee jump.

 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Doing the bungee jump. :) No doubts there!

 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Learning how to handle some conflicts of emotions.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

I did not need to buy this one. The Kindle that was gifted to me by the gang.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Mine :P :P I accomplished quite a few things that I wanted to this year :)

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?

A few people that I thought could not really stoop so low.

13. What song will always remind you of 2015?

Forever trust in who you are, Nothing Else Matters – Metallica. It is a pleasant memory.

14. What do you wish you had done more of?

Travel more. :) Write more :)

15. What do you wish you had done less of?

Cribbing about work and job.

16. What was the best book you read?

This year has to be two of them – Amritanshu Pandey's Seal of Surya – the Legend of Ikshvaku and R. Venketesh’s Of Gods, Kings and Slaves – the Siege of Madurai.

17. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?

More travelling :)

18. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Patakha Guddi – Highway. (Note: not saying that I’m like her. But I would like to think of myself as free-spirited.)

Life's updates over a cup of coffee :)

Disclaimer. Anticipatory Bail.

This is going to be one of those boring posts, much like a gap-filler. Mostly because I keep being asked why I am not writing anything these days. But also, I really want to break this rut that I am in!!

A fancy title, lots of blaming mundane stuff, some general updates, lots of excessive smileys and a promise to return to blogging seriously, that is what this is going to be about. So if you’re expecting something concrete, sorry :) :) One of these days, soon enough, I will post quality stuff. Today, however, is not that day. :D :D

Blogger tells me that it has been 157 days since I blogged. That is equal to 5 months and 4 days. 22 weeks and 2 days.

No, I did not do this math. I used Google. That is a huge number of days that have lapsed. I do not even want to get into the calculations of how many weekdays and weekends that is. And No! I do not have any specific reasons! I can blame lack of motivation, writer’s block of plain laziness. I can also blame bouts of travel. Oh No!! I will not blame TRAVEL! It is the best thing to happen this year. :) :)

Technically, I should have had enough stuff to blog about. As I said, I have done a fair bit of traveling this past 6 months compared to the usual spending long weekends cooped up in SG. I could have also continued my Mahabharata Chronicles, which I do intend to continue by the way – there are piles of unfinished drafts lying in the folder… :)). I could have done some tags. As I remember, they used to be my most favorite blog topics a couple of years back. :P Not that I found any worth my time.

So what was I up to?

I travelled a bit, made use of the lots of long weekends that are there this year in a good way, stayed at home the one longest weekend because of lack of planning. :-/ Something that still irks me. Anyways, let’s not dwell on that!! I am looking forward to change that in the rest of the months in 2015. This year however so far, I have been to Leh – Ladakh, Penang, Ipoh, Bali, and home! :-) :-) I know! Not too bad huh! :)

On the milestones front, I turned another year older, completed 2 years at my current job, and completed 6 years in Singapore. I started learning a new dance form (Odissi), gave it up when I went on a two week break with the family to Bali, I checked some things off my bucket list and added another few items on it. I have a few more things pending for this year that I need to check off.

Oh also, I had the most awesome birthday ever with a kick-ass cake to boot, and baked by a close friend. Idea conceived by the best friend. :-) Nope. Can’t post any pics here since it’s too racy for this blog :D Suffice to say, good friends, great night-out, dance, dinner, drinks, and brilliant presents. :) :) Fun was had, and HOW!!! :) :)

As part of the above celebs, I was gifted a kindle this year, something that has been on my wish list for the last 2 years. I was on the fence about an e-reader but can I tell you the stats?  14 books in 4 months. That is some achievement even by my standards! It’s GOOD, people. Take my word for it! I still love my books, smell of paper and all that, but this little device has been a lifesaver on my one-hour plus train journeys back and forth from home to office.

Someone very kindly reminded me about a couple of months back; it has been 6 years since I landed on the shores of Singapore. That is a long time even by my standards. Normally in about three years or so, I get that itchy feeling to move out and head to a new place. I still do get that sometimes here. Have to figure out what to do about it. Been everywhere here, seen everything, done almost everything – time to head to a new place huh? I mean, I am comfortable in this place. It has given me a lot, but it has taken a fair bit as well, so my feelings are quite ambivalent in that regard. The one thing that I will always be thankful to Singapore for – FRIENDS.

Oh boy, I can definitely ramble on eh. I mean, I actually thought I would not have anything to write about.

Ok. I think I should stop here. I hope this gives me back the mojo to continue the blogging efforts, especially ‘The Mahabharata Chronicles’. :) :)

In the meantime, if you do see me, do ask me why I am not writing anything these days; it seems to do the trick. ;) :)

Until the next blog then...

Masti, Marriages, Mayhem, Milestones, Mangoes and Much More … The Month that was MAY!!!

Yes! That’s how cool we are these days! Because, a title is all I can come up with at this point of time. The self-induced plethora of blog posts on the 100 happy days has bitten the dust long back. Very very long back, in case you guys didn’t notice! Which is to say, have you all disappeared from here like I have? :-/ 

Anyways, the story, bottom line, the point of it all, is THIS. I came up with that cool title about a week back and was wondering what to write on those very topics (we are diligent, if not anything else!) so that it qualifies for a readable post. After breaking my head over which, I gave it all up and decided to churn out whatever got in the way of these fingers while typing… which translates to, you may have to end up reading some nonsensical stuff – if you’re reading this that is! :P

So we settle back to old usual random way of spilling out all those thoughts that have taken up space in my mind… de-cluttering it is gonna be my dear friends!

Where were we? Oh yeah! The 100 Happy Days Challenge. Right! I am very happy to inform you that this has bitten the glorious dust like a lot many of my projects. Again! Not because I was / am not happy most of the days. They were eclipsed by this other factor called PROCRASTINATION of which I am a master! Either ways, I did get some super awesome feedback from some very kind people and if I ever get the feeling that I will want to start a blogging spree, I may just take it up on again. I actually did want to do that A to Z blogging challenge which a lot of my co-bloggers have picked up, but then considering I did not finish the earlier challenge, I thought it was safer for me to stay away from challenges for a while. But to those of you who are doing it, KUDOS! I end up reading all of those blog posts, and then feel jealous that I am not able to write like that!!... Hmmmppff!! Oh and before I forget – remember this post on HOPE and Britto words… I got one for myself!! :D this one in the image right below… Kinda symbolic you think! :D :D Hehehe!

Have I ever told you, that the month of MAY is my most favourite of all months in the year?  December comes a close second, but MAY is right up there. You ask me, why? I say, because it’s my BIRTHDAY Month! And this MAY was simply awesome… whole lot of celebrations, a trip back home, temple visits, farmhouse visits, mangoes, reading and lazing about at home… the best 2 weeks and 3 weekends in a long long time. The vacation this time started off with a close one’s wedding, the associated celebs, an almost finger-removing car door slam (a lil’ exaggeration if I may!), the long drive back to Home Sweet Home (which I was visiting after more than a year!!!), the hot humid weather, the blessed showers, a milestone birthday, the folks’ anniversary, a new car, temples, the mango & jackfruit season, the gorging on amma’s cooking, catching up with all the besties, and so much of reading, sleeping, gossiping, shopping and all that jazz…  BLISS!!!

This pic below is from the farmhouse. Clicked and edited on my phone, it calls for a whole new blog post all by itself. I love this one spot at KALAM and the fact that it has a statue of one of my favourite gods makes it even more enchanting.

Coming back to work, after more than 2 weeks means VACATION HANGOVER. Which is what happened. And what also happened was that, I forgot the password to unlock my system!!! After a couple of futile tries, it opened up! Thank god for predictability!! :-) And then it was back to square one! Putting out fires and getting rid of the to-do pile and then adding more to the to-do pile. Just another few routine days! :-s while that was going on, I noticed something weird. I was kind of getting tired of MAY. I mean, yeah! It was still my favourite month and all that but god! How long was this month in any case??  It felt like it was never getting over!!!! :-/ probably all that work stress! ;-) but we did have some good times at work like a drinks get together, some cake cutting and general silliness with the girls on and off! Solid team I have here I tell you!! Touch wood! :D :D

Also caught up on a few movies, including the much hyped ‘Kochadaiyaan’, which frankly in my opinion did not feel like a Rajini movie at all, sorry! The only relatable part was his voice and dialogue delivery which remotely made me feel I was watching a thalaivar movie! None of that mass hysteria or that jaw-dropping and silly grins ever happened. But then all said and done, was one heck of an attempt by the crew. Could have been better though, I have to say! If you are going to be shooting a movie for more than 2 years, I am going to expect something better than a game of guess-who-that-hero/heroine-is! And for a thalaivar movie, those expectations are well warranted, if you ask me.

Watched X-Men and drooled over Hugh Jackman unabashedly. Also loved the movie. New characters, new plot line which completely derails all that ever happened until X-Men: The Last Stand, and a devilishly brilliant action sequence by one of the most inspired characters ever – Quicksilver set to Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle. Stand out scene!! The best scene in the entire movie, if you ask me. Evan Peters with that roguish grin of his is someone I want to see more of in the upcoming X-Men movies.

And the IPL madness has ended, with the team that I supported getting trashed in the qualifier – 2, thanks to some recklessly stupid shots by a seasoned player. I also got to know that my cricket knowledge is half-baked when the best friend was kind enough to point out in some not-so-good-words, that Dwayne Bravo was a medium fast pace bowler and not spin like I had always thought!! Gulp!! Don’t ask me why I thought he was spin bowler! :( I half dozed through the finals yesterday. I so badly wanted Punjab to win, which obviously didn’t happen. Anyways, now that has ended. KKR has won and SRK is a happy man, on his way to becoming the richest actor in the world!

Over to the milestones part now.

I turned 30. And I am somehow feeling very glad about it. Weird right! I always feared growing older and now I find that I am actually looking forward to the 30s. I think I am finally becoming wisdomous in Joey Tribbiani’s words! So ladies and gentlemen, the milestone birthday was brought in amidst folks, after about 5 years and with all four of us under one roof. Low-key all the same but one of the most relaxing big moments ever. Gone are those days where one could pull an all-nighter and still show up to work fresh and dewy faced. Now if I don’t get my quota of 6 hours, I am a grumpy soul solely walking straight thanks to copious amounts of coffee.

The other milestone is that I completed 5 years in this ‘Lah-Lah’ land! Funny how time flies. And when I think back, I can’t believe I have spent 5 years here. And I don’t know whether to be happy or sweet about it. I think I will settle for BITTERSWEET!

MS Word tells me that I have typed 3 pages already.

I think I should stop on this note. J

I wish I could say that I will blog more religiously and fervently from now on, but I don’t want to make promises that I can’t keep! :P

Oh god! This wisdomous thing is sometimes a pain! ;) :P

Peace out…  

Travel - Day 3 of the 100 Happy Days Challenge!! :-) :-)

And we are on Day 3 people…

I was having a hard time about choosing what next to put on what makes me happy… 

No No! Not for lack of things… But for the order of priority ;-)

Then I realized, might as well just put whatever strikes me first!! :-)

So for today… when I think about it... TRAVEL makes me happy…

Being on the road… Meeting new people… Visiting new places… Learning about the cultures and customs of a place… Eating the local food… Trying to pick up the local dialects… I love TRAVEL! :D :D

I remember the road trips we used to do, back when I was working in Hyderabad… Fun they used to be! Small trips, long weekend trips, overnight journeys, stopping for highway food on the ways… drinking chai from those roadside stalls… picking up local souvenirs…!! :-) :-)

Love that feeling… Miss that feeling!!

This is another one on my list of things to do in 2014… TRAVEL MORE … :-)

Such a lot of places yet to see around Singapore and even more in India…

Yes! People… the travel bug has bitten me, rather bitten me hard…  It’s time to take those backpacks, and put on the shoes… Wanderlust …. Itchy Feet… time to heal this feeling! :-) :-)

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake.

The great affair is to move."

— Robert Louis Stevenson

 See you on the road peeps! :-) :-)