Namaskaara 2024

ಇಂದು ವರ್ಷದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿನವಾಗಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳನ್ನು ಕೋರುತ್ತೇನೆ.

We are well aware that nowadays nobody can read past 1-2 lines because of our declining attention span. Therefore, by writing the 1st paragraph 100% in Kannada and not a mere 60% like a hypocrite, I think my job is done. Continuing further in the language we all love to hate but cannot live without at this point in time, i.e. English.

This blog is about Time.

I recently picked up a book called:

And if you are expecting a joke, here it is: I gave it up after a few pages of reading. I will probably go back to this later but too many things are happening way too fast in the world and one cannot catch up with them all. And still, it feels like nothing is happening. If you go by the trends and fads these days, it would appropriately be called: Millenials are getting old.

2024 is here. When you last blinked it was 2019. Since I have been just repeating this line every year for the last few years, I am going to stop doing it from now on. I was recently sternly reminded by someone that I am still stuck in the lockdown (mentally) and it’s time to move on and smell the coffee. Fair enough, it is indeed time to move on and accept the reality. Even though some new variants are still lurking around, mostly everyone else has moved on and started doing normal things like living their lives, buying new things, expanding their families, traveling, and creating jams on the highways.

2023 was a year that also finished pretty quickly, in my opinion. I have been complaining about how time is zooming away for the last few years. The theory of time flying is easily understood by this wonderful graphic by Tim Urban.

It also boils down to the same old adage. Without new experiences, every day looks the same. Unless one tries to do things differently or try new stuff deliberately, even this year would be over in a jiffy. Hopefully, this year things will be interesting if not dramatically better. After all, our country would go through General Elections (which is also a good hint to stop watching the news and leave Social Media). AI would become more and more popular even if it is still not really AI, but it’s fine, why be a snob? Let’s call it AI. And so on.

The responsibility lies on us, we have to be the change we want to see in the world. Like many past years, I don’t have any New Year resolutions. I am just going to try to read more books and control bhook (hunger) in general.

But I am going to sincerely try to be more creative and less of a consumer. I don’t know how long I can do that but I have given up my Netflix subscription already. Prime Video already has everything on Rent or in other words it is useless. Nothing is there to watch on Disney Hotstar and after the debacle on November 19, 2024, opening the app itself gives me shivers. I still have a YouTube Premier subscription but it is mostly used to have an uninterrupted viewing of important channels like Pink Fong and Cocomelon. So, to change a few things, I have started to read more and ordered a few graphic novels (review soon).

That’s the mantra for 2024 then: Create More, Consume Less.

Happy New Year to anyone who landed on this page and continued to read till here!

Header Photo by Ananthan Loggi on Unsplash