Tag Archives: Year-Log

Year 2019 End Blog Post

So, the fastest year of life is over in a jiffy. I went to Goa in Jan 2018 and it feels like it was just a few weeks ago. That’s how fast the last 2 years have gone by.

There were many learnings this year work-wise. I have now completed more than a decade of working. It went pretty smooth for me for the first 7 years but the last 3 years have made me work as many hours as I worked in the first 7. There were numerous late nights and weekends. The amount of knowledge gained was also enormous. I also completed 5 years working in the same company. So, I have spent more time in office than in the rented house I am living in. Does this mean the office feels like home? Dangerous sign.

And, as much as you want to avoid, but someday politics catches you. But it is fun and challenging and as part of life as it can be. Bring it on!

As I observed, I have been the heaviest this year. Time to look into it in 2019. Better to go into new year with some aim.

Below are the things I enjoyed this year, like a normal human being.

Movies (In theatres)

The least number of movies I watched in Cinema this year.

TV

Movies

  • Movies by Edgar Wright – Scott Pilgrim and Trilogy of Ice-Cream and Blood
  • Article 15 – Dark and brilliantly shot
  • Section 375 – Gripping!
  • A Quiet Place – Goosebumps, silently. Brought back memories of Spielberg era

Series

  • The Office – I haven’t laughed as much I did while watching this in ages. I’m seriously! All hail Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute combo. Things do get weird in S8 but still so much better than all those shows with a laughter track after every 10 seconds. Each and every character in fact make you chuckle. It will be hard to miss. That’s what she said!
  • The Family Man S1 – Superbly made. I think all the things by the creators of this have been amazing.
  • Fleabag – Some 4th wall breaking done really brilliantly, the writing and the acting by the eponymous Phoebe Waller-Bridge is something else!
  • Stranger Things S3 – Still one of my most favorite shows. The ‘Never ending story’ part was the best.
  • Veep S7 – Cannot think of any other show which has so many jokes crammed into every dialogue that before you finish your laugh at one, another one comes which is even meaner. And this was the final season. Elaine, I mean, President Selina Meyer, what a performance!
  • Chernobyl – Highly recommended

Books

The following are the books I read this year. I had targetted one book a month but I ended up 2 short. Currently, I am reading Thinking Fast and Slow but it is not going to get finished in the next 3 days.

One thing I regret about the following books is that in spite of them being definitely life-changing, I didn’t change my life. I will have to read some of them again because they are definitely worth re-reads. Some of them tend to appear a bit lop-sided about growing old and understanding the world more. But then as I said I didn’t let them affect me in any positive or negative manner. One way to actually implement the learnings from the books is to go through them again via a book review which I didn’t do at all this year and that has to be corrected next year.

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One year of being 99%* Nihilist

So today is 16th December 2015. One year since that tragedy occurred in a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. The tragedy which, as a matter of fact, approved my belief in non-believing in some beliefs which I believed in earlier. Also, the same day when that Delhi Rape Case happened in 2012. So reaffirmation happens on 16th December day it seems.

Anyways, as the year draws to a close, I embark on this space again to jot down some events/experiences/thoughts from the year 2015.

  • I had an opportunity to visit Hampi in Northern Karnataka earlier this year. I wanted to write a full-length tour diary but then it would have been apt to write it in Hebrew, considering how Israel has taken over it unofficially, I ended up just uploading few pics on 500px, Flickr, and Instagram. Although, it was quite an experience in History. Also, it was unintentionally funny as I saw things written in Hebrew on a Poster of Lord Hanuman. There was no English, Hindi or Kannada on it, which was perplexing, to say the least. And it turned out to be a laundry shop. I should have paid attention to the washing machine on the right.

    Hampi
    Hampi
  • After a hiccup on Social Media, when I tweeted something which got my name published in a newspaper, in full detail, all details being taken from LinkedIn, this time for a negative reason, I had to change few stuffs online in order be safe than sorry. That included username. If you have a username which has been with you for more than a decade, it becomes personal. So letting that go is slightly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable feeling like buying something you like to relish, but it falls on the ground. But you can’t eat it because there are people around. (Of course, you would have eaten in solitude). But things happen, and we learn. And what we learn, is the 2nd point.
  • Growing up, reading literature, watching movies and in usual storytelling, we are generally told about how evil the political class is. And how honest media-persons are. It took some time but finally realized this year that the media, is not as milk-washed and honest, one would have liked to believe… Blowing things out of proportions, taking things out of context and presenting them as totally different, sensationalism, creating adverse environments, biasing, etc. are some of the traits which always hung around them but this year helped in understanding this more clearly that they keep indulging in these things as it was not a big deal.
  • So I overcame this weird predicament of not having the access to pure unbiased news and reportage, I started writing my own news for my own happiness. If they can make things up, why can’t I! Obviously, it draws huge inspiration from likes of The Onion, Crank News and life in general. Thinking of using that space on Medium (which is turning out to be just right for a blogging platform) more in 2016 when I take another major step in this joke called Life.
  • Talking about joke called Life, few things happened in life which people call Life Changing. But I reacted to them like a nihilist should. Which is to act like it doesn’t matter and just chillax, if I may. Also, I completed a huge milestone in life, which is a transition from youth to professional Uncle age. This transition, however, depends on the age you consider based on your own mindset. Now being an Uncle, I promise to never throw back the ball which comes into my living room, from the kids playing in the street. The sad part is that kids don’t play on the streets anymore.
  • Being a part of 22 Whatsapp groups (and numbers are on the rise as we speak), I am planning to go Lorne Malvo to all of them. I don’t understand the need of sharing jokes anymore. And being an Uncle, I don’t find those jokes funny. If you want to make me laugh, you have to try harder. This is 2015 ending and some people are still trying to be funny. Please don’t. I have stopped trying to be funny and believe me, it works. Also, I somehow can’t handle typing on touch phones while lying down. My phone fell number of times on my nose than Rupee falling against Dollar on the usual basis.
A word or two about the new year

The new year is going to bring more changes than one can imagine to my life and this can lead to anything including unexpected social behavior.  I’ll try to be as close to staying whom I am at the moment, but who knows what happens. Hopefully, it will turn out to be good. Otherwise, who cares!

* 99% – Because even the best disinfectants kill only 99% germs.

Featured Photo by Matthew Brodeur on Unsplash