Thursday, January 21, 2010

2009: The Year that Was

Happy New Year! May 2010 be a year filled with good health, love, laughter and happiness for you.


While I am really looking forward to what this year brings for me, 2009 was an incredible year for me, and I am a little sad that it is over. Since I’ve not blogged at all in the past year (and to write more frequently was one of my resolutions!), I decided I’m going to do a brief recap of what happened through the year, so that I don’t forget what a truly momentous year this was for me.

January: The year started off with a bang, with a big family trip to Papikondalu which was…..wait for it…awesome. Soon after, my friends from Hyderabad came to Vizag for a couple of days, and much fun was had. I got to spend a lot of time with family and friends, caught on my gult movie watching, read a lot, ate a lot and in general remember how it is to live and not work.

February: February is always the most important month of the year for me. It was even more so this year because it was my 25th birthday, an important milestone, and I marked it by celebrating a birthday week, so that I did special for the whole week. We also drove down to Chennai for G3’s wedding. And most importantly, the parents fixed the wedding - though I wasn’t happy that they fixed for bang in the middle of a week.

March: March wasn’t a very good month for me. I had a massive workload, made worse by a member of my team suddenly quitting, so I was working late into the night, and on weekends. We had our annual appraisal, and while I received a good review, I didn’t get promoted. Now while I wasn’t expecting a promotion this year, I was surprised to find myself extremely hurt and disappointed and angry. To add salt to the wounds, we only got a nominal bonus and raise. The only silver lining was that we did a girl trip to Chikmagalur one weekend, and much laughter abounded.

April: The workload continued to pile up, and it was made worse by the fact that I was angry with the firm at that time, and felt very de-motivated. Things weren’t great on the personal front either - the wedding made me nervous and testy, and Nike was also peevish and short tempered as he worried about balancing between a job and his website. But I guess all that angst was good for creativity - I joined a creative writing class and wrote a couple of short stories, and Nike shot a mini-movie along with Andy.

May: I wrote the Civil Services Preliminary Exam for a lark, and later regretted it, for it was hot and uncomfortable and I was sure not to pass. Nagesh got married, and while I gained some friends at his wedding, I lost my mobile. Sw got engaged. The story writing and the movie making continued.

June: June was a quiet month when nothing much happened. Lalith visited us. We went for a day trip to Galibore fishing camp, and it was very very nice. I watched marathon sessions of HIMW and Desperate Housewives. I saw an incredible number of movies and a few plays. And I lived and thrived on Lonely Planet.

July: Shilpa finally left for the US, leaving me feeling rather bereft. Then I went on a 9 day trip to Eastern Europe with Samee. It was awesome, awesome awesomely awesome. My memory of any other event that may have happened in July is clouded by the awesomeness of this trip.

August: I got engaged. It was a lovely ceremony at home, attended only by close family and friends, followed by a fabulous lunch. We inaugurated my wedding shopping by going double over budget for the main wedding saree. We planned, booked and paid for our honeymoon. I lived in dreamland.

September: We hosted a rocking house party to celebrate the engagement. This was the first party Nike and I have hosted together, and with home cooked (by Nike) food to boot, so it made us feel all very couple-y, and it made me feel like some grand hostess. I also went on a lovely weekend trip to Hampi, which was a much needed break for me. I also took a big leap, and gave my notice at work - it was something I had been thinking of doing for a very long time, but it took me months to gather the courage and finally actually resign.

October: October was a busy month. I did a day trip to Mysore for Dasara, and had a great time. I went to Hyderabad for Bujji Anna’s engagement, and for some wedding shopping. My last day at work was October 15th. Sigh! L I left the very next day for Vizag, and spent Diwali at home, the first time in many years.

November: November was a whirlwind month. We finished the remaining wedding shopping, and I got fully involved in the wedding work. It was a heady and exciting time. Went to Hyderabad for Anna’s eventful wedding. And started off with our own wedding celebrations on 29th.

December: I got married! It was a whole week of celebrations, family, friends, sleeplessness, madness and being treated like a princess. I loved ever minute of it, even the tired, sleep deprived minutes. This was soon followed by a 2 week honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise, and my first experience of ‘luxury travel’ - and I found out that it doesn’t come easily to me, I’m a budget traveler at heart - but it was of course a once in a lifetime experience. I returned from the honeymoon to a flurry of lunches and dinners so I can be introduced and I could introduce Nike, and then off we were to Goa, to ring in the New Year.

And that was 2009 for me. It has been a mad, busy, chaotic, fun filled, incredible, AWESOME year. I don’t think any other year in my life is going to be so eventful. I got married. MARRIED! And as if that isn’t enough, I quit my steady, satisfying job so I can figure out what I want to do and where I am headed. For someone like me, that step is enough to make me think of myself as a loose cannon! It was a big step, and a tough step for me to take, and as of now, I am extremely glad I took it.

I turned 25. I crossed an invisible threshold into adulthood. I got to travel extensively last year, both in India and abroad. Enough to keep the wanderlust in me satisfied for while, a long while. I saw a lot of movies. I caught some plays. I read a lot of books. I wrote some stories. I dreamed a lot. I did little. I made some new friends, but I also lost some old ones.

Its been a truly great year for me. Its been awesomely awesome. Thank you 2009!

Now how was 2009 for you?

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