Monday, December 31, 2012

The Year That Was For Me - 2012

Recap of some of the stuff I did in 2012.

Saw snow for the first time in my life at Auli. Enjoyed the all-boy trip with Vasu, Ranjan, Koni, Kiran and Vasu's son Aditya. We assembled in Dehradun and drove into the hills. On the way back from Auli we stayed overnight on the banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh.Other places I visited this year were an interesting hillock near Jadcherla and a Hanuman teple in Hayathnagar which were both Koni's discoveries, Bangalore, Mysore, Chandigarh, Pune and Shivthargal (near Pune). One short visit to Delhi and to Ghaziabad with Raja to visit IMT. One nice visit to Taramati Baradari with Shobhs and Anjali. Travel was bleak last year save the Auli trip!

Met Vijay Lokapally the well-known cricket and sports journalist, Krishna Shastry Devulapalli the humour novelist, Huma Kidwai the novelist, and Saeed Mirza the famous film maker and now, novelist.

Wrote 373 blog posts which is a sharp decrease from last year. But I love writing the blog and it has made me a better person in many ways because it forces me to do things that I might not have - new experiences, new people, new thoughts. The decrease was during the second half of the year when I was busy with the cricket selection assignment.

Read and reviewed 47 books. I enjoyed reading the Mahabharatha (in three versions), Freedom at Midnight, The Last Nizam and they helped me understand my context better in terms of where I come from. Several new books, many by new authors, some old classics as well but overall I think there is some improvement required in the kind of stuff I read.

Watched and reviewed 54 or so movies, most of them thanks to Koni this time. Once again the Irani movies completely blew me off my feet, some of the new Hindi movies were good. But then again, like the books, I feel there is much scope to improve what I see. I have my sights set on some which are in my possession but which have been languishing for want of attention. The Classics for instance, and the ones I missed out from last year.

Went to music concert  - again alone - and enjoyed the 'Guns and Roses' experience. Plan to go to at least one music concert a year by myself.

Went to a play by myself - 'Hamari Potti ki Shaadi' at Lamakaan and enjoyed myself thoroughly. 

Conducted a Creative Writing workshop for school children of the age of 10-15 at Oakridge High School and enjoyed the experience. Taught me much about how writing itself.

Interviewed some interesting people - Anupama Raghvan my friend who is also a kidney donor on the process of organ donation, Anita Rajnarayan the tarot reader and hypnotherapist and also a good friend of mine, Vijay Lokapally on sports journalism and two interviews with Anjali who gave me the perspective of life as seen by a four and a half and a five year old.

Have begun a walking and exercise routine which is nice and allows me to play with my thoughts while keeping my physical side active. Worked on health and am glad to have kept it in good shape. I think I am better of now than last year.

Attended the Hyderabad Literary Festival on all three days and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I even participated in a panel discussion!

There were talks at TRR College of Engineering, Triveni Group of Companies, SMILDA, Gap Miners and others,  workshops at University of Hyderabad, Mars and Sorokasoft, and one 'In conversation' with Anita Nair which was a first and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Took up a new assignment which has been a great learning experience in many ways.

Most of all, enjoyed all the time I could spend with Anjali and looking at the world through her perspective.


Overall it was a year that pulled me in many directions and put me in several situations that were new. Certain things that I wanted to happen did not work out such as publishing 'The Misfit' and the 'Champion's Mindset', workshops and lectures, some travel plans. But it was a year of tremendous growth in several other ways.

Much thanks is owed to Shobha for all that she puts up with and more for being a wonderful companion through the days. Anjali for being a constant source of joy. My family for keeping me grounded and keeping me going with their unconditional love and support. My friends for making me laugh and making life fun and exciting. Raja, Prarthana and Vinod for the books they shared with me. Sagar and Koni for the movies. Gap and HCA for the assignments as with all other clients of mine. Amar for the workshops and the discussions. Vinod for the coffee and bajji rendezvous.


More as I remember through the day.

1 comment:

Vinod Ekbote said...

Ready to share more books and also the coffee and bajji meets.