Recap of some of the stuff I did in 2013.
Places I visited - Visited Manthani with Mohan, Did a heritage walk around Pune with Kalpak, Goa with the cricket team and explored nooks and corners with Vidyuth, Shimoga with the cricket team and explored the zoo and old sites with Riaz, Chirala with Shobhs and Anjali, Vid and family, Warangal with Nalini and checked out the fort, temple and school, Shobhs and Anjali came too, Golconda, Qutb Shahi many times, Satrasala with Vasu and Ranjan, Chowmahalla with Huma, Anita, Raja, Shobhs and Sagar, Osho Park with Prarthana, Shobhs and Anjali, Panhala Fort, Mahalakshmi temple with Pooja, Prarthana, Shobhs and Anjali, Deccan Trails with the whole gang, Chennai!
Bleak stuff!
Wrote 396 blog posts which is an increase from last years 373. What did I write about?
Read and reviewed 51 books. More careful with my selection of books though. Especially enjoyed reading the classics - Of Mice and Men, My Experiments with Truth, The Snow Leopard, Between Clay and Dust by Mohammed Farooqui. In non-fiction I enjoyed reading The Checklist Manifesto, The Big Leap, City of Djinns and Age of Kali. Among the Indian authors I read The Foreigner by Arun Joshi, The Better Man by Anita Nair which was one of the best. I also enjoyed reading Jump Cut by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli. I am glad I re-read the short stories of O'Henry and Maupassant.
Watched and reviewed 75 or so movies. Particularly enjoyed The Bicycle Thief, On the Waterfront, Lincoln, Bombay Talkies, Django Unchained, Lunchbox, Bananas, Shanghai are some that I liked. Bananas made me laugh like crazy and I liked it the most!
Went to three music concerts - Zakir Hussain at Goa, Wadali Brothers at Chowmahalla. Both outstanding. Missed on my annual concert at Bangalore.
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 - Parth Gokhale, Dr. Nalini Nargunkar, Anjali who gave me the perspective of life as seen by a five and a half year old. I actually interviewed mr. M.R. Baig, cricket coach and Dr. R. Patnaik, a leading dermatologist as well. Need to publish them.
There were talks at Advanta, HSBCOBC, Wilfin Tech, Mars, UoH, Leadership, CMR, Vitesse. One event where I was in conversation with Krishna Shastri Devulapalli and Mohana Krishna Indraganti. in talks and workshops I probably interacted with about 700 people.
It was a strange year that left me feeling rather empty and low on fuel midpoint. Luckily the energy picked up again and I feel as good and as rejuvenated as ever. Nothing can sum up the year end better than this - I ended the year with two acts of physical nature that give me great strength. One that I could bowl for almost 20 minutes without my shoulder hurting (I am now hoping to play a game) and the other, climbing Sinhagad on the 30th of December (more in detail!). Two acts that give me much hope and comfort.
Also signing a contract for 50 Not Out was a huge relief! My writing career was looking to be under threat until then.
The new things that I did - writing sub titles for a movie was interesting. Doing a writing workshop for kids as young as 6 or 7 years old was even more so. Driving from Hyderabad to Pune alone was another. Doing corporate workshops by myself is another.
Much thanks is owed to my family and friends for keeping the faith and for keeping me going, for making me laugh.
Places I visited - Visited Manthani with Mohan, Did a heritage walk around Pune with Kalpak, Goa with the cricket team and explored nooks and corners with Vidyuth, Shimoga with the cricket team and explored the zoo and old sites with Riaz, Chirala with Shobhs and Anjali, Vid and family, Warangal with Nalini and checked out the fort, temple and school, Shobhs and Anjali came too, Golconda, Qutb Shahi many times, Satrasala with Vasu and Ranjan, Chowmahalla with Huma, Anita, Raja, Shobhs and Sagar, Osho Park with Prarthana, Shobhs and Anjali, Panhala Fort, Mahalakshmi temple with Pooja, Prarthana, Shobhs and Anjali, Deccan Trails with the whole gang, Chennai!
Bleak stuff!
Wrote 396 blog posts which is an increase from last years 373. What did I write about?
Read and reviewed 51 books. More careful with my selection of books though. Especially enjoyed reading the classics - Of Mice and Men, My Experiments with Truth, The Snow Leopard, Between Clay and Dust by Mohammed Farooqui. In non-fiction I enjoyed reading The Checklist Manifesto, The Big Leap, City of Djinns and Age of Kali. Among the Indian authors I read The Foreigner by Arun Joshi, The Better Man by Anita Nair which was one of the best. I also enjoyed reading Jump Cut by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli. I am glad I re-read the short stories of O'Henry and Maupassant.
Watched and reviewed 75 or so movies. Particularly enjoyed The Bicycle Thief, On the Waterfront, Lincoln, Bombay Talkies, Django Unchained, Lunchbox, Bananas, Shanghai are some that I liked. Bananas made me laugh like crazy and I liked it the most!
Went to three music concerts - Zakir Hussain at Goa, Wadali Brothers at Chowmahalla. Both outstanding. Missed on my annual concert at Bangalore.
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 - Parth Gokhale, Dr. Nalini Nargunkar, Anjali who gave me the perspective of life as seen by a five and a half year old. I actually interviewed mr. M.R. Baig, cricket coach and Dr. R. Patnaik, a leading dermatologist as well. Need to publish them.
There were talks at Advanta, HSBCOBC, Wilfin Tech, Mars, UoH, Leadership, CMR, Vitesse. One event where I was in conversation with Krishna Shastri Devulapalli and Mohana Krishna Indraganti. in talks and workshops I probably interacted with about 700 people.
It was a strange year that left me feeling rather empty and low on fuel midpoint. Luckily the energy picked up again and I feel as good and as rejuvenated as ever. Nothing can sum up the year end better than this - I ended the year with two acts of physical nature that give me great strength. One that I could bowl for almost 20 minutes without my shoulder hurting (I am now hoping to play a game) and the other, climbing Sinhagad on the 30th of December (more in detail!). Two acts that give me much hope and comfort.
Also signing a contract for 50 Not Out was a huge relief! My writing career was looking to be under threat until then.
The new things that I did - writing sub titles for a movie was interesting. Doing a writing workshop for kids as young as 6 or 7 years old was even more so. Driving from Hyderabad to Pune alone was another. Doing corporate workshops by myself is another.
Much thanks is owed to my family and friends for keeping the faith and for keeping me going, for making me laugh.
2 comments:
Hari, it will get better and fuller in 2014 if what you did and what happened to you in 2013 is anything to go by. Good luck and congratulations about bagging another book contract.
Thanks Vinod bhai for ensuring that a smile or a laugh is not too far away. I think I should also keep count of the number of mirchi bajji-coffee meets that we do because that is a good indicator of laughter and happiness. This year was a bit stressed for those because of your new assignment (and mine). I am sure 2014 will bring more mirchi bajjis and coffee for us. Cheers!
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