2020 – Abhinav Bhatt

Year 2020 End Blog Post

120 odd blog posts this year! Out of these, 100 or more have been published daily for the last 100 or so days. Total Words 41,227+. Average words per post 352. That’s a big achievement so a self-pat-on-the-back is a given. So, I have nothing to sum up as consolidated thoughts today. 2020 has been a year that taught us a lot of things. I will share what I think were the 3 most important lessons we should have learned.

You

Your and your family’s health is above everything else. Money is required to keep the health intact as well. But if you are not healthy to earn money, then all the best. In case you fail to keep yourself healthy for any reason, the only thing which can save you is Insurance. If you don’t have yourself insured, then it is like bungee jumping with a rope made of noodles. Take care of yourself. You matter.

This and That

So many things are there that we take for granted. Internet and People top that list so thank you Tim Berners Lee and Evolution. But there are things which, if taken away, everything would crumble. To each, his own, but savoring small things should be our priority always. This year showed us if our basic things are taken away from us, we might implode.

The Off Switch

Beginning with the start of this year, till at least October end, I worked more than I have ever worked in my life. I took up more responsibilities than I have ever had. Then I took on some more challenges. I experienced a few things that were life-altering. What did I achieve out of that? Nothing as of now. Probably, the results would show in the next few years. But one big lesson learned is the missing Off Switch. I spent all my time this year in front of a screen and kept my eyes closed only when I was sleeping. This is unsustainable and impractical. It fast forwards you to old age. An Off Switch needs to be found and that’s going to be my focus in 2021. One cannot get back the lost moments (and people). So, spending time rightly is to be cherished.

Wishing the millions and millions of the readers of this blog the best for the upcoming year. For rest of the world, read more people! Let’s hope 2021 acts as the start of a wonderful decade for humanity. Do the due.

A bit about Crying

It was the wedding of my cousin in 2014. In fact, it the time of farewell when the bride was about to leave with the husband to her new home. It was the time when everyone was teary eyed. Partly because in India family profusely cries when their daughter is about to leave. And partly because everyone is tired of the mammoth of the event a North Indian wedding is, as it draws curtains. So, as my cousin was about to sign off from the scene with her newly added friends and family, my whole family started to cry, while saying bye, as per the tradition (and heartfelt too, of course).

If it is not Agoraphobia

I gifted a book called ‘Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking’ to someone recently. Gifting such book is like poking inside a Socket with a Tester Screwdriver. The only problem being is not that you don’t know that there is an electric current there. Rather it is that you don’t have much confidence in the insulation of the screwdriver itself. Another analogy is that when you try interacting with introverts, it might be like asking directions from a person who’s wearing headphones. The headphones might be a signal for You but you are not getting it. It is understandable for me because, surprise, I am an introvert myself here. Gifting such a book might be counter-productive. However, I had gifted the book thinking that there might be some tricks and tips in it which might improve productivity.

Reading in 2020

Spider-Man leaning on concrete brick while reading book

Goodreads.com runs the yearly Reading Challenge year after year. One has to commit to reading a certain number of books in the year to participate. There is no award but it is just a personal goal. Reading more is a goal for me as I very strongly believe that people whom I consider smart, are also well-read. Mind you, that doesn’t work oppositely (if this is a word). Every year, I have tried to increase the number of books I read than the previous year. And like how always it happens, life happens and your promise runs out of gas. So, as is shown below, I have never been able to reach even 12 books in any year since I started tracking this. Shameful indeed! But over time, I have read more Non-Fiction than Fiction. Real-life is thrilling enough nowadays. Also, a good Non-Fiction would be as captivating as any fictional book if you have an interest in the topic. In any case, storytelling would rule in any book there is.

I might not have read the most number of books. But, I have read the most this year. Seriously a lot. Not books per se, but medical articles. Just going by the variety of topics read, it ranged from Haematology, Diabetes, Sarcoma, Immunotherapy, Dendritic Cells Therapy, Metastasis, Obesity, Pneumonia, and of course, Covid-19. And many more horrible but widely prevalent things.

Committing to reading gives a tangible goal. There is no compulsion but like they say, without a goal, you cannot score. If one could balance between how much content one wants to consume, through watching and through reading, and how much content, one wants to generate, that would work out the best. That would always be a struggle though but I wish to be in the group that wants to create more than consume.

I think my plan for next year would be to not go by what’s trending to read. But, I would go into what exactly I want to know about.

Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash

Recent Book Reviews

So I recently read: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

So I recently read: Churchill’s Secret War

MeMe; So I recently read: The Selfish Gene

So I recently read: Atomic Habits by James Clear

J

Stay home till it’s cured, they said. Don’t go out yet, it’s still really bad. Try to stay sane, mental health is serious, don’t go mad. So much has already happened, it is indeed a tad bit sad.

I obeyed, duly complied, stood at one place, didn’t move. I understood the implications, nobody had to try too hard to prove. I submitted myself and kept myself grounded. Kept washing my hands every 15 minutes, nobody had to shout as I was self-hounded.

So I recently watched: Disney-Pixar Soul

If you have been through a lot in 2020, like everyone else, you aren’t alone. But if you want to end the year on a positive note, I suggest that you watch the new Disney Pixar movie ‘Soul’. It makes a great Christmas/New Year movie which can be watched with your family. It is available on Hotstar in India. Here’s my review:

I don’t have to comment on the sheer genius of animators of Pixar as we all are fully aware of that fact. But I just wonder how could someone think of and write such deep philosophical ideas. Then convert that into an animation movie with a range of visual imagery. Then still make it highly entertaining by keeping you hooked for an hour and a half.

Synopsis

Soul is about a School Teacher who wants to become a professional Jazz musician. However, he has to be content with just being a Teacher. Then something happens with his life which takes him places. The journey teaches him some lessons. That’s all I can convey without spoiling anything. I especially liked the fact that the majority of the characters you see in the movie are African Americans which fits the Jazz and Music part of the movie. Not that it is critical, but it just enhances the beauty of the soul of the movie.

If you have already finished watching, we can talk further.

My Take

I also recently re-watched ‘Anand’ which is one of my most favorite movies of all time. The movies are highly different but the underlying message is the same. We tend to live either in past or wait for the future to happen. That doesn’t really allow one to live in the present. For the regrets of the past, and the expectations from the future, the now gets lost. There are several small joys just everywhere. But we want to take all the burden possible and just get buried under that. I guess we need constant reminders that Now is more important than anything else. Soul is such a light yet deep movie that makes you think about such stuff. The end goal is lucrative, but who knows our state of mind when we reach there. Past is gone so what’s the point of sweating over it.

To keep the soul happy, just live on.

My other recent movie and shows reviews.

But we don’t celebrate

From Netflix’s Comedians in Cars getting Coffee with Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais:

“Auschwitz, December 25, 1944

In a dark, dull, and desolate dorm, cramped with many thin, malnutritioned, ready to give up faces, a Schutzstaffel kommander enters.

He announces, “tis the time and the Fadar Christmas tells me to release you all. You can go now. All free and ye shall now enjoy the wonderfulness of the festivities!”.

Everyone’s face is about to lit up when a man at the back of the room says, “But… We don’t celebrate Christmas!”.

Everyone does a collective facepalm and scene ends.”